Joseph Rutherford, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of Gracepoint Management, Inc., in Tampa, Florida. He brings to the OPEN MINDS team extensive professional experience in managing community-based behavioral service delivery, including financial and technology management.

Prior to joining Gracepoint Management, Inc., Mr. Rutherford served as the Chief Executive Officer of Avita Community Partners, a Georgia community service board. Prior to joining Avita, he was the Assistant Director of Northside Mental Health Center in Tampa, overseeing the administrative function, including the supervision of the business office, management information systems, human resources, clinical records, the in-house pharmacy, purchasing, and facilities management. He also served as the risk manager for Northside, managing all incident reports and securing all insurance coverage.

Before becoming the Assistant Director at Northside, Mr. Rutherford was its Director of Management Information Systems with responsibility for the direction and oversight of all technology functions within the organization. Mr. Rutherford also became a certified independent consultant with CMHC Systems, Northside’s software vendor, and was involved in management activities ranging from new system implementations to managed care information systems setup.

Mr. Rutherford started his career working as a Licensed Psychological Examiner for the Clinton City School System. After three years in this role, he was appointed as the Assistant Administrator and Director of Quality Assurance for the Helen Ross McNabb Mental Health Center.

Mr. Rutherford received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in psychology in 1979 and 1982, respectively, from Tennessee Technological University. In 1995, he completed a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).