Jihoon Kim, LMSW, President & Chief Executive Officer
Jihoon Kim (he/him) is the Chief Executive Officer of InUnity Alliance, a membership organization in New York State consisting of over 200 agencies that provide addiction, mental health, health, and social services to individuals of all ages. Mr. Kim most recently served as Deputy Secretary for Human Services and Mental Hygiene under Governor Kathy Hochul. In this role, he managed thirteen state agencies and offices and served as Co-Chair of New York’s Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council.
He was instrumental in developing New York’s historic multi-year investment in the continuum of mental health care, prioritizing initiatives to combat the opioid overdose epidemic by efficiently distributing opioid settlement funds, expanding access to affordable childcare, and launching strategic efforts to reduce child poverty by 50% over ten years. Additionally, he established New York State’s first Office of the Chief Disability Officer.
With over fifteen years of experience in government affairs, policy, and executive leadership, Jihoon has held positions with the New York State Senate, the New York Attorney General’s Office, and the Office of Mental Health. He is a Licensed Master Social Worker and holds a Master of Social Work degree from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
With a background in behavioral health, inpatient care, and community treatment, Amanda brings extensive experience from her roles within managed care organizations, including a previous administrative position at a leading behavioral health managed care organization. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care from the NYU McSilver Institute, as well as a Graduate Degree from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
Sarah Duvall, MPH, Director, Policy Center
Sarah Duvall (she/her) joined InUnity Alliance as the Director of the Policy Center in the summer of 2024. With over 20 years of experience in clinical, public health, and nonprofit sectors, Sarah brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Most recently, she served as the Director of Behavioral Health at the Healthcare Association of New York State, where she advocated for hospitals and health systems that provide addiction, mental health, and intellectual and developmental disability services across the full spectrum of care.
Sarah’s career also includes roles as a research scientist and epidemiologist at both state and local government agencies. In addition, she is an adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Albany, School of Public Health. Her multidisciplinary background allows her to foster collaborative planning across sectors, ensuring that policy initiatives are both targeted and impactful. Sarah holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the State University of New York at Albany.
Sherry LaFountain, Director of Events Management, Marketing & Development
Sherry LaFountain (she/her) joined ASAP (now InUnity Alliance) in 2001 wherein she has held multiple positions within ASAP. As the Director of Events Management, Marketing, and Development, wherein she provides professional services in the planning, organization and management of events, logistics of events, event coordination, contract provisions, policies and procedures, manages budgets, exhibitions and provides complete oversight of all aspects of meeting planning and production as well as oversees membership recruitment services, and strategic activities that support membership retention and enhance an organization’s visibility in the behavioral health sector.
Sherry’s prior experience includes working as a Legal Secretary/Paralegal at Featherstonhaugh, Conway, Wiley & Clyne, LLP, a well-respected Albany-based law firm specializing in governmental relations, regulatory affairs, complex litigation, business law, health law, and environmental law as a Legal Secretary/Paralegal for two partners and four associate attorneys for ten years. Sherry also worked for Brown & Weinraub, a leading-edge Government Relations & Strategic Consulting law firm, representing a broad spectrum of business interests established and/or seeking to expand in New York ranging from Fortune 500 to start-up enterprises, from large health care systems to neighborhood clinics, and from industry pillars to disruptors as an Executive Assistant to Managing Partner/Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer and numerous lobbyists.
Lou Desso, Special Assistant to Chief Executive Officer
NEW YORK CERTIFICATION BOARD (ASAP-NYCB)
Elisabeth Kranson, ICE-Certified Credentialing Specialist – Director of Certification
Elisabeth Kranson (she/her) joined ASAP (now InUnity Alliance) in 2015 and planned the New York Society of Addiction Medicine’s Annual Statewide Conference in New York City. Elisabeth served as Certification Coordinator before being promoted to the Director of Certification. In her role, she oversees the New York Certification Board (NYCB) review process for all certification applications and collaborating with NYCB Members to certify NYS applicants. Elisabeth played a key role in modernizing the NYCB’s certification process by transitioning to an electronic application processing system. She began her career in the advertising industry and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, Community Outreach & Communications | ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry Program Manager
Ruth Riddick is an ASAP-NYCB Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC) with a private training and coaching practice at Sobriety Together™, an authorized and experienced Recovery Coach Academy trainer (CART), a designated Recovery Coach Professional and RCP/facilitator (CCAR). She is co-founder and program manager of the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry, launched in 2020. Appointed to ASAP in 2016, she serves as New York city-based Community Outreach, supporting professional peer recovery development and certification throughout the prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery field. She also serves as consultant to the ASAP-NYCB Ethics Committee and as ASAP-PWI administrator where she manages ASAP’s online training programs.
Ruth is acknowledged nationally as a peer recovery subject matter expert, and is a familiar speaker on topics such as the Peer Recovery Profession, Mapping the Stages of Recovery and Partnering for Ethical Practice. She developed the ASAP-NYCB Peer Recovery Exam Prep workshop, now online and based, in part, on her item writing service with the International Credentialing & Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC). She is also co-developer of the ASAP-PWI CRPA-Family classroom-based curriculum, a co-TOT trainer of the authorized CRPA-F Trainer Panel, and a member of the Veteran Supported Recovery certification and training development team.
Widely published, she appears in William White’s Recovery Bibliography. Ruth Riddick is a two-time Irish America Healthcare honoree and multiple awardee at Caron Treatment Centers, where she has volunteered for nearly two decades. Most recently honored by In His Name Outreach (2022) and Samaritan-PARC (2021), she serves as a subject matter expert to the SAMHSA-funded Opioid Response Network (from 2017), and the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence (from 2021), as well as on the board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals (from 2022).
Doug Rosenberry, Certifications Development
Doug joined the ASAP-NYCB Certification Team following a distinguished career in credentialing at OASAS, the state agency, where, among other achievements, he was deeply involved in developing the CASAC credential. For ASAP-NYCB, Doug has managed certification and training development for CRPA-Family (2019) and Veteran Supported Recovery (2021), and is currently working on bringing CRPA-Youth to the field in early 2023. He serves as Certification Expert to the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry.
Cathie Gifford, Program Associate
Cathie joined the NYCB team in 2017. She provides invaluable customer service, processes applications, maintains financial records, and other staff support. Prior to joining ASAP/NYCB, Cathie ran her own business for over 20 years.
