What does it take to lead healthcare organizations through crisis, rising costs, workforce challenges, and constant pressure without losing sight of the people you serve?

In this episode of Worth the Work with Jason Dana Costa, Jason sits down with behavioral health executive Yonzetta Brook Tillman, PhD to explore the leadership lessons she has gained from decades of working across hospital and community-based healthcare systems.

Yonzetta shares how growing up with a strong sense of community shaped her approach to collaboration and leadership, and how early experiences in behavioral health helped develop her passion for strategic planning and public health.

She also reflects on leading through some of healthcare's most challenging moments, including 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonzetta explains why preparation, reliable communication, leadership presence, and trusted relationships are critical when teams are operating under intense pressure.

The conversation also explores the financial realities of healthcare leadership. Yonzetta discusses how organizations can reduce waste, improve workflows, use technology effectively, strengthen workforce planning, and control costs while still protecting the quality and humanity of patient care.

Jason and Yonzetta also discuss recruitment, retention, burnout, resource management, and the importance of keeping the mission at the center of difficult operational decisions.

Ultimately, Yonzetta explains why the work remains worth doing: the moments when patients, families, and communities experience meaningful change because someone showed up to help.

This episode is a conversation about strategic leadership, resilience, operational excellence, and remembering the human impact behind every healthcare decision.

What makes a behavioral health organization truly worth the work?

In this episode of Worth the Work, Jason Dana Costa sits down with Eric Perry, Executive Director and CEO of Avenir Behavioral Health Center, to explore what it takes to lead, rebuild, and grow in one of healthcare’s most demanding environments.

Eric shares how an early fascination with medicine and human behavior led him from clinical work as a therapist into executive leadership. He and Jason discuss the realities of behavioral healthcare, including staff retention, continuity of care, building stronger teams, and the importance of listening to the people closest to the patients.

Eric also explains why he believes a resume only gets someone through the door, how he hires for character and culture, and why some of his greatest leadership lessons came from seeing what not to do.

The conversation dives into difficult organizational decisions, including rebuilding teams, changing psychiatric provider groups, and creating a more collaborative approach to patient care. Eric also shares what Avenir’s upcoming 24-bed expansion means for the organization and the community it serves.

At its core, this episode is about building organizations where people trust each other, employees feel supported, and better operations ultimately lead to better patient care.

What does it take to build an organization that truly stays connected to the people it serves?

In this episode of Worth the Work with Jason Dana Costa, Jason sits down with Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad, Founder of My People Clinical Services and President & CEO of My People Community Services, to talk about leadership, community, fatherhood, trust, and more than two decades of creating impact in Greater Hartford.

Abdul-Rahmaan shares how watching his father work as a social worker shaped his own approach to leadership, teaching him the importance of compassion, connection, and genuinely caring for people. He also reflects on launching My People Clinical Services in 2005 and how what began as a small idea quickly grew to more than 100 staff within its first year.

The conversation explores the philosophy behind the organization’s mission: “To enable My People to help Your People so that Our People will succeed.” Abdul-Rahmaan explains why lasting community impact requires people to work together, remove barriers, and remain connected to the individuals and families they serve.

Jason and Abdul-Rahmaan also discuss the realities of balancing mission and financial sustainability, adapting an organization through changing funding models, building trust in communities that have valid reasons to distrust institutions, and the importance of leaders staying close to the work rather than becoming disconnected from the people they serve.

Abdul-Rahmaan also shares the story behind The Manhood Tree, an initiative designed to create safe spaces where men can talk openly about boyhood, fatherhood, brotherhood, manhood, vulnerability, and personal growth. From Fatherhood Manologues to Brotherhood Check-Ins and the “Speak Life into a Father, Speak Life into a Son” initiative, his work creates opportunities for men to connect, encourage one another, and have conversations that often go unspoken.

The episode also touches on Abdul-Rahmaan’s own resilience through organizational challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, kidney failure, and major health setbacks, and why he continues to wake up motivated by the belief that individuals, families, and communities can succeed.

It’s a conversation about what leadership looks like when you remain present, build trust, invest in people, and never lose sight of the community behind the mission.