Executive Team at Orchard Place
Anne Starr, Chief Executive Officer
Anne Starr is a native Iowan, graduating from Fort Dodge High School, the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Psychology and from the University of Iowa with a Masters in Social Work. She has been in the human services delivery field for more than 30 years. Her career began as a live-in direct care staff in a residential group care setting. She spent fifteen years as a mental health clinician at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Orchard Place, and in private practice. During the past 20 years, she has served in administrative roles as a Senior Vice President of Program and Policy for Mosaic with corporate headquarters in Omaha, NE; President and CEO of Buckhorn Children and Family Services, with corporate headquarters in Buckhorn, KY; and Executive Director of Hamilton County's Child Welfare Collaborative in Cincinnati, OH. Starr returned to Orchard Place as the CEO in March of 2013. She has been involved in children's mental health and disability public policy and advocacy efforts across multiple states and at the federal level.
Andrew Clark, Chief Operating Officer
Andrew’s career experience has been in the financial services industry. He describes himself as a business transformation leader and has experience in leading organizations through enterprise-wide initiatives. Andrew has specialized in program management, strategic program leadership, and management consulting. Andrew was first exposed to Orchard Place when one of his family members participated in BHIS at PACE Center, and school-based therapy with Child Guidance Center. Andrew also served as a member on the Orchard Place Board.
Val Saltsgaver, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Val is the Chief Financial Officer at Orchard Place and has been with the organization since November 1999. Prior to joining Orchard Place, she worked at KPMG Peat Marwick, a public accounting firm, for 13 years as a senior audit manager specializing in non-profit organizations, higher education and transportation companies. Val is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Iowa State University.
Dr. Stephen Mandler, Chief Medical Officer & Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Mandler is the Chief Medical Officer & Chief Clinical Officer at Orchard Place. Orchard Place annually serves more than 10,000 children across Iowa from birth to age 22 through a wide variety of mental health services for children and young adults, including residential, outpatient, in-home and care coordination programs. Dr. Stephen Mandler is a board-certified Child and Adolescent psychiatrist. After Medical School, Dr. Mandler completed Residency and Fellowship Training at the Menninger Clinic, part of the Baylor College of Medicine. He has expertise in the treatment of infants, children and their families. He is the former Chief Medical Officer of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch in Billings, Montana. Previously he served as Regional Medical Officer Psychiatrist, US Department of State, Foreign Service and worked in Afghanistan, Mexico, and West Africa, and Washington, DC. He has also served on the faculty of Oregon Health and Sciences University and Portland State University's Graduate Program of Infant/Toddler Mental Health.
Bryan Martin, SHRM-SCP, MATL, Vice President of Human Resources
Bryan brings over 17 years of experience in strategic Human Resources management. He has a proven track record of aligning Human Resources strategies with business objectives to drive success and growth. Most recently, Bryan served as the Manager of Talent Acquisition Strategy and Senior HR Business Partner at Elevance Health (formerly Anthem, Inc. – locally, Wellpoint), where he led a team of HR professionals and managed multiple high-impact projects, including overseeing the integration of over 4,000 employees through three Medicaid mergers. Bryan has a Master of Arts in Teaching & Learning with a focus on Human Resources Development from the University of Arizona Global Campus, complemented by a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Communications from Louisiana State University. He has SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), has held leadership positions in non-profit professional development organizations such as the Association for Talent Development, and is a licensed adoptive foster parent who has adopted 5 kids out of foster care.
Candice Revita-Ramierz, Vice President of Development & Marketing
Candice is a Certified Nonprofit Professional with 10 years of experience supporting nonprofits within Greater Des Moines. She holds a B.S. in Event Management from Iowa State University and an M.A. in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Development from the University of Northern Iowa. Prior to joining Orchard Place, Candice spent time with Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and Hoyt Sherman Place. She is passionate about serving and supporting Des Moines’ nonprofit sector, serving on the Board of Directors for Home Inc. and the Young Nonprofit Professional Network of Des Moines.
Amber Rand, LMHC, IAADC, Vice President of Orchard Place Campus
Amber Rand received her BA degree in Psychology and Criminology from the University of Northern Iowa. She received her MA degree in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Iowa.
Amber has practiced in the fields of substance use and mental health disorders for the past 23 years. She has delivered clinical services to adults in residential and outpatient substance use treatment. Her prior leadership experience includes oversight of youth dual diagnosis residential and outpatient programs, juvenile justice programs and youth sexual offender residential program. She has worked for Orchard Place, in Des Moines, Iowa, as the Campus Vice President since 2013 where she leads an 88-bed youth psychiatric residential treatment program.
Amber has previously served on the state substance use counselor professional board for nine years. She has delivered training at the state and national level on a variety of mental health and addiction topics. She holds independent licensure as a Mental Health Counselor and certification as an International Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor.
Amber was a founding member of Orchard Place Sanctuary Core Team, achieving agency certification in 2018. She currently serves as the Project Manager for the agency-wide implementation and sustainability of the Sanctuary Model. She delivers Sanctuary trainings and booster sessions for agency personnel. She also serves as a Sanctuary Peer Reviewer, assessing programs across the country on Sanctuary implementation standards. She has also served as the Project Manager for the agency-wide implementation of the Trust Based Relationship Intervention model.
Amber was drawn to the field due to personal family experiences with substance use. She is highly motivated to develop and deliver high quality, evidenced-based programming to help families and youth feel safe, secure, calm and well.
James Bustamante, MA, LMHC, Vice President of PACE Center
James Bustamante moved to Iowa in 1997 from El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Cathedral High School, Park College with a B.S. in Social Psychology, and a Masters in Counseling from Webster University. He has been in the human services delivery field for more than 30 years. His career began as a group facilitator for youth with various mental health diagnosis and has since worked in various positions working with youth, families, and adults with various mental health needs both in the El Paso community and in the Des Moines area. Most recently, he did work in the insurance field focusing on behavioral health needs of insurance members in over 20 states. He also has worked in public policy at the state level within state work groups, various community organizations, and state level efforts focusing on Latino youth and families. His passion continues to be working with youth and families within central Iowa.
Jodie Warth, MPA, Vice President of Child Guidance Center
Jodie is the Vice President of Orchard Place, Child Guidance Center. Jodie joined the organization in August of 2021. She received her master's degree in Public Administration from Drake University. Previous to her role at Orchard Place, Jodie spent 11 years as Chief Executive Officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa.