Every Child with Autism Deserves a World Without Limits

One of the original BCBAs who saw ABA therapy for what it could become, Helen founded Behavior Frontiers in 2004 with a single conviction: that every child with autism deserves individualized, science-backed care delivered by people who truly know what they're doing.

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Over the past two decades, she has built Behavior Frontiers from a single practice into one of the most respected ABA providers in the country, now serving thousands of families across the nation. Helen holds a Master of Arts in Psychology and has been providing ABA services since 1998, developing deep expertise in verbal behavior, discrete trial training, naturalistic teaching strategies, and social-emotional curriculum. She also spearheaded the creation of PrioraCare, Behavior Frontiers' proprietary data and clinical outcomes software - a recognition of her belief that better data leads to better outcomes for kids. In 2021, she was named a Top 25 Consumer HealthTech Executive by The Healthcare Technology Report. Outside of work, Helen enjoys spending time with her two children, husband, and pup.

Bryan has been behind the operational and financial engine of Behavior Frontiers since he co-founded the company alongside Helen Mader in 2004, giving him a perspective on this organization that no one else shares.

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Over more than two decades, Bryan has built and refined the infrastructure that has allowed Behavior Frontiers to scale from a single office into a multi-state provider serving thousands of families across the nation. His deep familiarity with every facet of the business, from billing and budgeting to center development, makes him an anchor of stability during the company's continued growth. Bryan holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and enjoys spending time with his family during his time outside of work.

Originally from Wales, United Kingdom, Nik built his ABA operations career at some of the industry's other leading providers. His approach to operations is informed by his background as a special education teacher, and 10 years spent in the education sector – keep children’s outcomes in central focus when building out and improving processes.

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Nik brings hands-on experience leading operations across large multi-site ABA organizations, with a focus on the systems, data, and execution discipline that allow a growing provider to maintain clinical quality at scale. At Behavior Frontiers, he oversees the operational infrastructure that keeps our centers running effectively and families well-served. He studied at Cardiff University and the University of Wales, where he earned an MA degree in education. Outside of work, Nik enjoys spending time with his wife and dog.

Ko came to Behavior Frontiers from nearly two decades in investment banking and private equity – including direct experience advising ABA providers – but what ultimately drove his decision was personal: a close family member with autism has given him an insider's understanding of how much these services matter.

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Ko most recently served as a Managing Director in the Healthcare Group at Solomon Partners, where he also sat on the firm's Valuation & Fairness Committee. Earlier in his career, he spent 15 years in the Healthcare and M&A Group at Moelis & Company as a founding member of the Los Angeles office and began his career at UBS Investment Bank in the Financial Sponsors and Leveraged Finance Group. At Behavior Frontiers, Ko takes an operator-oriented approach to the CFO role – working across teams to improve execution, strengthen performance metrics, and position the company for long-term, sustainable growth. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Business Administration, cum laude, from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. When he's not working, Ko can be found running along the beach in Santa Monica, on the tennis court, or competing on the soccer pitch.

With over 20 years of experience spanning clinical operations, governance, and workforce development, Dr. Breanne Hartley brings rare depth to her role as Chief Clinical Officer – including serving as the current President of the Board of Directors for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). She chose Behavior Frontiers because she recognized something rare: an ABA organization founded and led by a BCBA, with 20+ years of clinical integrity behind it.

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Dr. Hartley holds a PhD in Psychology with an emphasis on Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University and is credentialed as a BCBA-D and Licensed Behavior Analyst. Most recently, she served as President and Chief Clinical Officer at an ABA agency she co-founded and helped scale, and has contributed to national initiatives as a member of the standard-setting committee for the Autism Commission on Quality (ACQ). Her research has focused on RBT training models and apprentice-based pathways for developing high-quality behavior analysts. At Behavior Frontiers, she is focused on elevating care quality and consistency across all service locations, developing clinical leadership among BCBAs, creating robust fieldwork supervision experience for staff pursuing board certification, and publishing outcomes that demonstrate what exceptional ABA care can look like. Outside of work, she's a proud mom to four active boys who keep her and her husband very busy.

As a Certified Healthcare Compliance Professional, Pamela has spent her career doing something most healthcare organizations struggle with: building robust compliance programs that actually work across complex, multi-state operations – without losing sight of the people those systems are meant to serve.

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Pamela holds a master’s degree in health administration and brings deep expertise in enterprise compliance program development, risk management, regulatory readiness, auditing, and cross-functional leadership. Her background includes oversight of multi-state healthcare operations, development of scalable compliance infrastructures, and guiding organizations through significant periods of growth – giving her a practical understanding of what it takes to build systems that hold up at scale. Known for her thoughtful leadership style and ability to build trust across teams, she brings both strategic insight and a people-centered approach to her role at Behavior Frontiers. Beyond her professional work, Pamela is an entrepreneur, mentor, and advocate committed to empowering others through education, wellness, and community impact.

Edward Topps has led human resources at some of healthcare's most complex organizations – from Fortune 100 companies to Federally Qualified Health Centers – and he brings that same people-first rigor to the work of building Behavior Frontiers into a place where talented clinicians and staff want to build long careers.

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Before joining Behavior Frontiers, Edward served as Chief HR Officer at San Ysidro Health, where he oversaw comprehensive HR operations including employee relations, talent acquisition, DEI, and workforce development – and helped guide the organization through mergers and acquisitions while keeping its workforce engaged and high-performing. His career also includes senior executive HR roles at Humana, L.A. Care Health Plan, and Molina Healthcare, where he led enterprise-wide talent strategy, succession planning, HR technology transformation, and workforce analytics. Known for his ability to align people strategy with business outcomes, Edward brings both the operational depth and the human touch that a growing organization like Behavior Frontiers needs. He holds a Master of Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law from Tulane University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. Outside of work, Edward enjoys attending live events, spending time with family, traveling, trying new culinary experiences, and enjoying the arts and theatre.

Michael has spent over 20 years building healthcare technology from the ground up – and he joined Behavior Frontiers because he saw a chance to use that experience to create real, measurable change for the children and families who depend on it. He's seen the impact of ABA up close and knows firsthand how much it matters.

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Before joining Behavior Frontiers, Michael served as VP of Engineering at Saile, where he scaled an AI-driven sales platform, deployed machine learning models, and led the security and compliance work that opened enterprise markets. Prior to that, he spent nearly 18 years at Cerner, growing through engineering and leadership roles and helping shape strategy across one of healthcare's largest technology organizations. His focus at Behavior Frontiers is on bringing prediction, recommendation, and automation to every part of how the organization operates – from scheduling and staffing to care delivery – so that clinical teams can spend their energy on what matters most. By putting years of behavioral data to work through machine learning, the goal is to shift from reacting to problems to getting ahead of them. Outside of work, Michael recharges with backpacking, a good book, and a home full of family and animals.