Brooke Sguardo brings over 19 years of experience in the behavioral health industry to the OPEN MINDS team, with expertise in provider relationships, contract procurement, and provider network development and operations. Ms. Sguardo has served in the health care fields of behavioral health network operations, clinical services and staff supervision. She currently serves as the Director of Provider Relations for Navigator Healthcare.

In her current role at Navigator Healthcare, Ms. Sguardo is developing a provider network to ensure people whose lives are affected by drug and alcohol use can find an appropriate level of care, at an affordable price, in their local community.

Prior to her role at Navigator Healthcare, Ms. Sguardo served as the Director of Specialty Networks for Optum. In this role, Ms. Sguardo provided operational and financial management for the behavioral health provider network. Ms. Sguardo performed financial analysis of contract negotiations, costs and cost trends, implemented quality improvement and customer satisfaction initiatives, and negotiated contracts for local and national providers all while managing a high-performing team virtually.

Prior to joining Optum, Ms. Sguardo served as a Site Administrator for Southwest Network in Phoenix, Arizona. As a Site Administrator, Ms. Sguardo hired, trained, and supervised over 70 clinical staff members, while maintaining certain staffing ratios to serve individuals diagnosed with a Serious Mental Illness. Ms. Sguardo oversaw daily operations of administrative staff and communicated with providers to secure services to meet treatment goals.

Prior to her time at Southwest Network, Ms. Sguardo served as an Adult Network Operations Specialist for the Arizona Department of Health Services. In this role, she created and monitored Network Development Plans to address material gaps and deficiencies, conducted site visits to validate data submissions, and ensured provider network in Maricopa count and Greater Arizona was sufficient for recipients, including Tribal Regional Behavioral Health Authorities.

Ms. Sguardo holds a Master of Social Work from Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.