MEET THE
BRIGHTSTONE
At Brightstone Transitions, our team is dedicated to supporting young adults in their journey towards independence and personal growth. With a wealth of experience and expertise in areas such as mental health, education, and outdoor recreation, our diverse team of professionals works collaboratively to provide personalized guidance and encouragement to every individual. We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment where each person can thrive and discover their unique strengths. Discover the difference our team can make in your transition to a brighter future.
team
Jason Cox
Co-Owner
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Jason is the Co-Owner at Brightstone Transitions. He brings a wide variety of experiences and passions to the Brightstone team. Jason comes to Brightstone with years of management experience in both therapeutic programming and summer camp programs.
Jason has a great deal of experience in designing and implementing programming to help young people. Jason started his career working with inner city youth in the Atlanta area in a wilderness based programming for over seven years. Helping to develop programing for boarding schools on the East Coast became his main focus before moving on to other programing areas. Through the years, Jason has had the opportunity to work with several camps and schools across the country. Jason accepted a job as the Director of Conferences, Retreats and Summer Programming for the Greater Seattle YMCA. Jason then moved to San Francisco to work with the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco where he served as Assistant Camp Director of Programs and helped to connect Bay Area inner city youth with healthier lifestyles through the outdoors. After several years of work with the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco, Jason took an opportunity to run a program near his family in North Carolina. During that work, Jason developed a passion for helping young adults that led him to Brightstone.
Jason takes an active approach to working with clients and their families, but his work does not stop at the admission process. He continues to be involved with clients and their families throughout their time at Brightstone. A major focus of his work with young adults is helping them find and pursue their individual passions. Jason understands that this often leads to young adults finding newways to be successful. Jason received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in Southern Urban Minority Politics from East Carolina University. Jason enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his family. Jason enjoys taking his son on adventures across the country.
Jill Allen
Chief Executive Officer
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Jill Allen serves as the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Brightstone Transitions. Jill obtained a bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University in Secondary Education. Jill is currently working to obtain her Master’s degree in Human Service Administration from Bellevue University. Jill began her career working in therapeutic boarding schools, where she found a passion for working with those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). After finding her passion, she then focused her efforts on becoming a Behavior Specialist where she helped middle and high school students improve their behavior in the school setting. While serving as Behavior Specialist Jill provided direct intervention, created school safety protocols, and served as the Nonviolent Crisis Prevention Intervention trainer. Jill has also worked at non profits throughout South Florida. Through her work with non profits, Jill advocated for services for clients within their communities and provided parent support and training.
Throughout Jill’s experience she has focused on how to help staff and parents see client behavior as communication of needs. Showing both families and staff that if that if they look towards what is being communicated that we can find how to both decrease the behavior and more importantly help the client is Jill’s passion. She feels that with strong relationship building, clients feel safe to seek the help they need and will be more likely to accept feedback.
Jill moved from Florida to Georgia in 2017 to be closer to family before welcoming her first daughter in June of the same year. In her free time, Jill enjoys spending time with her family, reading, baking, and travels back to New England to see family and friends.
Josh Watson, LCSW
Chief Growth Officer
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Josh is the Chief Growth Officer for Brightstone and it’s affiliate program, Point School Puerto Rico. As the CGO, Josh has the primary responsibility of ensuring innovative, sustainable, and quality growth across all areas of the organization. He maintains a regular focus on marketing, branding, customer service, strategic development, referral relations and client satisfaction.
Josh graduated from Gardner-Webb University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He completed his graduate work in 2003 at the University of Georgia, earning a master’s degree in social work. He has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) since 2006.
Josh is a Georgia native and has over 20 years of leadership experience in the behavioral healthcare field, including ownership and executive positions in young adult programs, adventure therapy programs, residential treatment centers and therapeutic boarding schools. He has been a collaborative partner with Brightstone programs since 2014, serving on the planning committee to grow and expand The Autism Symposium, a nationally recognized event that brings awareness and innovative training to the field of Autism.
Josh believes that strong organizational culture, solution-focused leadership, and authentic relationships are three key ingredients to any successful business. At the core, he is a people person and finds his greatest passion in elevating customer experience, leading cross-functional teams, brand management, and conflict resolution.
Josh’s life values are aligned with faith, family, fun, and hard work. He enjoys spending time with his wife Cristen, two daughters Delaney and Lily Kate, and their Golden Doodle Baker Blu, traveling and doing all things outdoors. During his free time you will probably find Josh on the golf course, on the water, or cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs.
Dave Brannan
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Dave Brannan is the Program Director at Brightstone Transitions. Prior to joining the Brightstone team, Dave spent nearly 13 years serving in various leadership positions for an outdoor behavioral healthcare program for adolescents and young adults.
Dave earned a B.A. in English with a Minor in Coaching and Leadership from LaGrange College before going on to earn his Masters in Public Administration from Valdosta State University. He has always known he wanted to work in the helping field, but a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail following his undergraduate studies led him to his first position in the field as a Field Instructor for a wilderness therapy program. He would go on to serve in various other leadership positions within the organization including Director of Alumni Relations and Director of Admissions where he gained valuable experience coordinating and communicating both internally across all departments as well as externally with parents, referring partners, and various other members of the support network for each client. This experience gives him a unique perspective on what it takes to set up clients and their families for success before, during, and after a program, and how to provide the highest quality level of programming necessary to ensure that a client’s growth is sustainable long-term.
Dave brings a consistent and collaborative leadership approach when working with members of his team as well as with clients and their families. He spent over 9 years working with families and prospective clients in admissions and outreach roles and understands the unique challenges that young adults and their families can face when both evaluating and participating in a program. He is passionate about developing strategies to overcome those challenges and uniting staff in a common mission to create and implement quality services that lead to the best possible experiences and outcomes for clients.
When not working, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife and three young children in their community around Athens, Ga. You can also often find him spending time outside at a golf course, on a trail, or rooting on his Atlanta Braves or Georgia Bulldogs.
Program Director
Carla Shorts, MS
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Carla has a deep belief in the power of intentional communities. She has nearly 20 years of experience working with adolescents, young adults, and their families. Her ability to develop authentic relationships combined with her clinical aptitude will provide families and referral partners with confidence as they are guided through the admissions process.
Carla graduated from the College of Charleston with a bachelor’s degree in corporate and organizational communication. She earned her master’s degree in clinical and community counseling from John’s Hopkins University.
Carla is a proud South Carolina native (and self-described state history enthusiast). Outside of work, Carla enjoys the visual and performing arts. She is an avid painter, calligraphist and graphic designer. She enjoys spending time on the lake and watching various sporting events with her family and friends.
Admissions Director
Bob Babcock, Ph.D.
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Bob is a Doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Psychologist in Georgia with a specialization in applied behavior analysis, developmental disabilities and severe psychiatric disabilities. He currently provides behavioral consultation and behavior analysis services to individuals and their families at Brightstone and through RA Babcock and Associates, LLC. He also provides leadership for staff through the Behavioral Science Center, LLC in Columbus, a clinic he helped found which offers a full range of state-of-the-art behavior analysis services for persons with autism spectrum disorders and related conditions.
Outside of Brightstone, Bob also provides consultation to private organizations and some public schools to promote the availability of effective and constructive behavioral supports to students, young adults, and families facing significant behavioral challenges. Bob is an adjunct faculty member in the Psychiatry Department at Emory University. Over his tenure he has provided expert witness testimony about the quality of behavior analysis services in IDEA due process hearings and in State and Federal Court cases.
Behavioral Analyst and Clinical Advisor
Sokia Chenevert
Director of Staff Development
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Sokia Chenevert serves as the Director of Staff Development at Brighstone Transitions. Sokia is a native of Northern California where she attended and graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work from California State University, Sacramento. Sokia obtained her Master of Education with a concentration in Rehabilitation Counseling from Auburn University. She started her professional career working for a day program for adults with disabilities and took on a part-time job working with California Child Protective Services. Sokia relocated to Georgia in 2016 where she continued her career working as a counselor assistant for Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. Sokia enjoyed working with her assigned counselors but strive to be a counselor.
In 2018, Sokia was promoted to a Transition Career Specialist at Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency where she assisted local high school students with disabilities transitioning into post-secondary education or employment. As her time ended at Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation, she began her new venture at Brightstone Transitions. She served as the case manager of Green Street home for a year and then transitioned as a vocational case manager. Sokia worked as a vocational case manager for five months before shifting to Goodwill of North Georgia as a case manager, where she provided case management, vocational guidance, and advocacy. Sokia served for Goodwill for over a year before returning to Brightstone Transitions.
When Sokia is not working she loves spending time with her family, friends, and 3 children- ages ranging 15, 9, and 2. Sokia loves creating new memories with her children, listening to podcasts, attending church, and finding new restaurants to try.
Jennifer Melton, RN
Registered Nurse
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Jennifer Melton is the nurse for Brightstone Transitions. She has been on staff since October 2022 and serves as the liaison between Brightstone, their clients and Psychiatric Professionals of Georgia, as well as other therapists. Jennifer graduated in 2008 from Brenau University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She has been a Registered Nurse now for over 16 years, starting her career on the postpartum unit welcoming new babies into the world! Her other specialties have included pediatrics and family practice. When she’s not working, you’ll find her spending quality time with her husband going to the lake, beach, church, and sporting events.
Laurel Phillips
Director Of Clinical Support
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Laurel Phillips serves as the Program Director for Brightstone Transitions. Laurel received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Social Work at Southeastern University located in Lakeland, FL. During her studies, Laurel volunteered her time working at a non-for-profit organization serving foster families, and continues to serve annually at an adolescent Grief Support camp. Laurel received her Licensed Master’s of Social in December 2019, and is currently working towards her Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
After completing her Master’s program, Laurel and her husband moved to Georgia where she began her career as a mentor at Brightstone Transitions. She later transitioned to Lakeview Behavioral Health serving as a Counselor where she conducted psychosocial assessments, group therapy, and discharge planning. While this transition provided Laurel an opportunity to focus on mental health treatment, she missed the relationships she had built with the clients at Brightstone. When the opportunity to return to Brightstone arose, she was eager to start.
Laurel’s passion is to serve her community. With service as her cornerstone, Laurel actively works to listen to her clients to understand their strengths and work alongside them to build systems that provide individualized treatment to reach their goals.
When not in the office, you will find Laurel walking her dog or on the hiking trails with her husband. As a Florida native, sunshine is Laurel’s happy place!
Anthony Thomas
Director of Program Support
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Coming soon.
Jeremy Noles
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The Director of Guided Transitions supervises the Guided Transitions and Launchpad 1.5 programs of Brightstone Transitions. The Director works to increase communication between families and clients to build the holistic support system inside the program. This position also provides support and supervision to the case managers over GT and LP 1.5. The Director of Guided Transitions also works as a community advocate building relationships within the local community. The Director is also tasked with helping to develop the vision of the future of Brightstone Transitions Foundation, looking to the future care of clients in our community.
Jeremy received his Bachelors of Human Relations from Point University in 2018. He received his Masters Degree in Social Work in 2022 from Valdosta State University.
Jeremy spent the first twenty years of his adult life working in commercial construction and facility supervision in the Atlanta area, working and supervising on projects at Turner Field, Cartoon Network, CNN Center, and The Arthur Blank Foundation. Jeremy went back to school to change his career trajectory at 40 years of age. Jeremy has worked as a Case Manager for the Disability Resource Center, the local Center for Independent Living. Jeremy began working at Brightstone Transitions as a residential mentor and was promoted to Case Manager before moving to the Director of Guided Transitions position. Jeremy also works in the evening as a therapist at HawksNest Counseling, a local therapeutic farm helping a variety of individuals and couples.
Jeremy gained so much knowledge and perspective through his college experience. One of the proudest pieces of Jeremy’s Brightstone Transitions journey is in progressing from a residential mentor to Director of Guided Transitions. Jeremy is a member of the Region 1 Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council representing Habersham County GA. He is a Licensed Master of Social Work with the State of Georgia. He continues to grow via Continued Education as he pursues his License for Clinical Social Work. Jeremy also works to build his counseling skills at HawksNest Counseling.
Jeremy is driven to serve others. He enjoys the one on one moments with clients to help them find their independence and experience moments of growth. When Jeremy isn’t at Brightstone Transitions you can find him serving in his community, hiking, or spending time with his family.
Director of Guided Transitions
Janet Lamb
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Janet began working at Brightstone as a mentor at the women's house in January 2021 but has since moved to the role of activities director. Janet graduated from the University of North Georgia before moving to experience life right outside of New York City. There, Janet began working in the helping fields and found a passion for working with others. This path led her back home to Georgia to work with young adults closer to home. She enjoys getting to celebrate the growth and success of others.
Outside of work, Janet is a devoted mother and enjoys spending time with family. She loves to travel and has a deep sense of adventure and curiosity. She also enjoys practicing French in her spare time. Janet loves being outdoors and doing anything active. Janet adores her role at Brightstone Transitions and finds joy in working with our clients each day.
Activities Coordinator
Josh Battle
Case Manager
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Josh Battle serves as the Case Manager at Brightstone's Dunlap House. Josh, a prior Marine, served in OIF & OEF where he started his career learning and building on fundamental core values and tools needed for independence, self-discipline, self-sufficiency and self-advocating. Josh holds a Bachelors in Engineering and Masters in Public Administration. Upon graduating Josh spent several years working for the government and nonprofits to help advocate for those in different socioeconomic situations. Josh went on to obtain his Juris Doctor from Michigan State University. After law school Josh went on to work in both the public sector for legal services and private sector to advocate for interests of the indigent, juveniles, people with disabilities, underrepresented and those in the foster system. During this period Josh was involved in committees and advocating groups working with groups such as the ACLU and Lambda to reduce recidivism, modernize legal precedents, and protect civil liberties.
After working as an advocate for those without a voice or less of a voice Josh moved to Georgia to start a new chapter where he joined Brightstone as the Dunlap Case Manager. Josh uses his experience working closely with his team to help clients build the tools and confidence needed to allow the clients to advocate for themselves and their interests in order to successfully create and reach their goals.
Cody Smith
Director of Launch Pad
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Cody Smith serves as the Director of Launch Pad. He received his LPN licensure at Lanier Technical College in 2012 and worked as a nurse in ER and long-term care capacities. Cody started his career at Brightstone Transitions as a residential mentor in special programs and Green Street in 2020 before being tasked with creating and managing Phase 1.5 in January of 2022.
Cody enjoyed working in the nursing field for five years and after some physical limitations ran a Volkswagen service center until realizing he needed to be in field helping others. He then started to pursue his masters in social work and will be graduating in 2024. He is a devoted husband of thirteen years. He and his wife have multiple foster and rescue pets. Outside of work Cody enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, model making, and is a fan of UGA football. In coming to this field later on in life, Cody has found purpose and community that he is eager to serve, and see growth in others. He is grateful to come to work every day.
Jamila Minnifield
Director of Guided Transitions
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Jamila Minnifield brings over a decade of experience working with families and children, with a specialization in neurodivergence, trauma, and complex family dynamics. While transitioning from her role in wilderness therapy to focus on therapeutic coaching, Jamila remains committed to the experiential model she has championed throughout her career, blending creativity, movement, and outdoor connection into her coaching approach.
Jamila earned her undergraduate degree at Georgia Southern University and her master’s degree in Community Counseling at Argosy University. Her clinical expertise includes working with individuals with Autism Spectrum diagnoses, ADHD, complex trauma, transracial and intercultural adoption, and systemic family challenges. She is deeply passionate about coaching parents of neurodivergent children, helping them build healthier communication, understand their children’s unique needs, and foster resilience and connection within the family.
In her 8 years working within Georgia’s foster care system, Jamila focused on family reunification and adoption, gaining extensive experience supporting families navigating complex medical, emotional, and developmental challenges. Her desire to improve family outcomes led her to wilderness therapy, where for five years she’s emersed herself in direct care, programing, and clinical leadership.
Jamila’s strengths include parent coaching, teaching healthy boundaries, conflict resolution, and solution-focused strategies for families. She is intensively trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Person Centered Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy. She utilizes Motivational Interviewing techniques and Brainspotting (Phase II) practices to facilitate movement with her clients, and non-violent crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques to support a safe environment for her families. She is best known for empowering parents to take back their authority and support their child through connection and holding healthy boundaries.
Jamila understands neurodivergent humans have a keen ability or “superpower” to immediately sense if a person is being genuine and real. And in her practice with kids and families, genuine connection and experiencing emotions is valued over simple “talk therapy”.
As an advocate for diversity in therapeutic spaces, Jamila is passionate about increasing BIPOC representation and addressing the nuances of transracial adoption. She continues to guide families in understanding cultural and identity complexities while embracing positive, experiential strategies for growth.
In her free time, Jamila can be found hiking with her dogs, fly-fishing, or enjoying outdoor adventures that inspire her practice and reinforce her belief in the healing power of experiential outdoor learning.
Sarah Cetlin
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Sarah's previous work with adolescents, young adults and families in wilderness therapy and residential treatment strengthened her belief in the importance of family work in the healing process. Guiding and witnessing these transformational experiences has informed her work as a parent coach and also in her private practice based out of Salt Lake City, UT.
Sarah works from a holistic and integrative perspective. She believes that all people and families have an innate capacity to heal and to find balance in their lives, but that so often the challenges faced make it difficult to find alone. She finds that in building connection with each other, families and individuals are able to find increased connection within. Her work is always informed by each individual's unique growth process and with a focus on a trauma informed lens and the mind/body connection.
Sarah is a New York City native who moved to Salt Lake City in 2016 searching for a slower pace of life. She began her therapeutic work at a holistic healing and career counseling center for homeless youth in NYC. As she wanted to bring her holistic approach to the institutional setting, she transitioned to Mount Sinai Hospital helping patients and their families manage mental health complexities related to chronic health issues. While in NYC, she also had a private clinical practice and taught yoga for mental wellness. After moving to SLC, she began her work in wilderness/residential treatment and eventually transitioned to private practice.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys playing in the mountains with her husband, two sons, and pup. She loves to travel and adventure - and (as her heart will always truly be near the ocean) it often means visiting a beach. Sarah holds a Bachelor's degree from The University of Connecticut and a Masters in Social Work from New York University.
Parent Coach
Mick Kubiak
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Mick Kubiak works with the parents of children of all ages to support, guide, and encourage them as they navigate the joys and challenges of raising human beings. In addition to being a Parent Coach, she is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California, where she sees clients in her private practice in West Los Angeles. As a coach, she works with parents nationally. Her passion is listening deeply and uncovering the wisdom and intelligence at play in what often appear to be “hopeless” situations.
She is intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and her life and her work are deeply informed by 25 years as a student and teacher of yoga and meditation. She has a particular passion for somatic mindfulness, which simply means body awareness, but she draws on multiple modalities and systems in her work. She loves the uniqueness she has discovered in each client—no two alike—and takes pleasure in finding the way of working that best serves the needs of each person, and each family.
Parent Coach
Kristie Calamusa
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Coming soon.
Office Manager
Lilia Rowell
Coming Soon
Tim McMahon
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Tim McMahon is the Founder of Brightstone Transitions. Tim has been working in the field of therapeutic programming for over 20 years. He has helped design and implement residential, therapeutic, and academic programs across the country. Tim is married with two children. When not at work, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his two daughters.
While managing 10 intensive residential treatment programs located in 6 different states across the country, Tim began to realize that there was need for resources to help young adults who, despite therapeutic intervention, needed support to move forward. These young adults appeared stuck, and were often unable to make plans that allowed them to advance. These young adults needed guidance, but often did not respond to the traditional clinical interventions. It was out of Tim’s passion for helping these untraditional young adults that Brightstone Transitions was born.
Tim has a hands-on approach to running Brightstone. Tim believes that the key to reaching these young adults is through personal relationships. With that in mind, Tim designed Brightstone to be a very small and very individualized program.
Tim brings a wealth of experience and personal knowledge to Brightstone which he uses to help his clients and families build a foundation for success. He helps clients to define clear goals and develop plans to work toward those goals. Tim believes in an action oriented approach that moves clients beyond the classroom and into real life experience.