Emely Sosa who serves as Clinical Supervisor, Gandara Center cited for her leadership.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (Nov. 5, 2025) – The Association for Behavioral Healthcare (ABH), a statewide nonprofit organization representing over 80 community-based behavioral healthcare providers, honored the winners of its Salute to Excellence Awards at its annual celebration on Oct. 24 at the Boston Marriott Burlington.
“This year’s Salute to Excellence Awards winners are representative of the community behavioral health professionals throughout the Commonwealth; they are tenacious advocates for children, adults, and families in need of quality, accessible mental health and substance use treatment,” said ABH President and CEO Lydia Conley. “They are unwavering, compassionate providers of recovery and resiliency. ABH is proud to represent these leaders and we extend our deepest appreciation for their service.”
The 2025 Salute to Excellence Award winners are:
Scott M. Bock Force for Change Award – Ellen Bruder-Moore Abramowitz, Vice President of Housing and Community Initiatives, Community Counseling of Bristol County. Abramowitz’s commitment to behavioral health and human services has remained unwavering for nearly five decades. She played a pivotal role in opening one of the Commonwealth’s first co-occurring enhanced residential recovery programs, which she now oversees. In nearly 20 years, Abramowitz has acquired over $20 million in funding for programs that have decreased homelessness and increased recovery, self-sustainability, and workforce development.
Moe Armstrong Award for Peer Leadership – Keith Scott, Vice President of Peer Support & Self Advocacy, Advocates. For over three decades, Scott has been a dedicated human services professional. Moving up the ranks from the original peer specialist at Advocates, today he is an established leader to over 45 peer specialists and recovery coaches. Scott is internationally known for his principled leadership and advocacy in the sector. He spearheaded The Living Room at Advocates, a fully peer-led, 24-hour crisis alternative to emergency departments and hospitals. It is the only program of its kind in Greater Boston and is available to anyone.
Robert Dowart Mental Health Award – Pam Bolarinho, Vice President of Acute Care Services, Child & Family Services. Bolarinho’s work decreases unnecessary hospitalizations and criminal justice involvement, and increases accessible care throughout Southern Massachusetts. She has created a highly-successful co-response ride-along program, pairing behavioral health clinicians with local police departments in New Bedford, Fall River, and Plymouth to respond to behavioral health crises. She also spearheaded the development and funding of two mobile crisis vans serving New Bedford, Fall River, and Plymouth residents.
Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice Award – Felicia Heywood, Executive Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, BAMSI, and Sonia D’Alarcao, Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, BAMSI. Heywood and D’Alarcao lead BAMSI’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Accessibility (DEIJA) department, which assesses, reviews, and implements change throughout the agency’s culture, practices, and policies. Heywood and D’Alarcao share best practices with the broader provider community and at conferences and symposia. The duo’s contributions have been paramount in fostering a more inclusive environment for the BAMSI workforce and the populations it serves.
Excellence in Administration and Finance – Talent Acquisition Team, Riverside Community Care. Riverside’s Talent Acquisition Team has far exceeded record employee recruitment and retention rates over the organization’s four-decade history. Composed of just five individuals, the team manages talent acquisition for the 1,800 employee agency that operates 118 programs in 75 different locations. Achieving a 42 percent reduction in staff vacancies over the past year and an over 10 percent decline in employee turnover rate, the team has enabled Riverside to fulfill its mission.
Excellence in Best Practices – Dimitris Niflis, Senior Therapeutic Mentor, The Home for Little Wanderers. Niflis provides structured, strength-based support services to children and adolescents who are at-risk, abused, or neglected to address daily living, social, and communications needs. He utilizes a variety of therapeutic interventions, innovatively tailoring them to individual needs and interests, including cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment. Due to his expertise, Niflis is assigned cases involving intense need. Many of the youth he has served graduate from the program and have their cases closed due to the significant progress made in their treatment.
Excellence in Outcomes – CSO Best Practices Committee, Clinical & Support Options Inc. Since 2013, the CSO Best Practices Committee has driven innovations in care, integration of new models, and sustainability of high-quality treatment through robust evaluation and collaboration to achieve extraordinary outcomes for the individuals served by Clinical & Support Options Inc.. By continuously analyzing program outcomes and service delivery data, the committee remains agile in addressing evolving community needs while staying firmly grounded in best practice standards. The team’s success is evidenced by statistically significant outcome improvements among children and youth served, as identified by independent evaluators.
Excellence in Program Leadership – Emely Sosa, Clinical Supervisor, Gandara Center. In just two years at the Gandara Center, Sosa has made her mark on her team, the organization, and the human services sector. Managing staff that had newly arrived from Spanish speaking countries, she developed culturally competent resources, equipping staff members to effectively do their job. Sosa played a pivotal part in designing various initiatives to identify challenges, opportunities, and ideas at all levels of the agency to make meaningful improvements. As an active member of The Caring Force, she has met with legislators to advocate for change in the field.
About the Association for Behavioral Healthcare
The Association for Behavioral Healthcare (ABH) represents more than 80 organizations that are the primary providers of community-based behavioral healthcare in Massachusetts. Their nearly 50,000 dedicated employees provide clinically effective and cost-sensitive care to more than 80,000 individuals on any given day in communities throughout the state. ABH is recognized as the leading statewide association advocating for the preservation, promotion and advancement of community-based mental health and addiction services. Visit www.abhmass.org and www.strengthenmentalhealthcenters.org for more information.
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