LEAD 22 Speaker Roster

Morgan Medlock, MD, MDiv, MPH
Commissioner
Behavioral Health Administration

Dr. Medlock previously served as the Chief Medical Officer and Director of Crisis and Emergency Services for the Washington, DC Department of Behavioral Health. She also serves on the faculty of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior and Howard University College of Medicine and has held a previous appointment as a Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Among her many leadership positions, Dr. Medlock served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities, including a term as Vice Chair from 2019-2020. She also participated in the District of Columbia Hospital Association’s Opioid Taskforce, serving as Co-Chair from 2019-2020. Dr. Medlock received her MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, her MD from the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, her MDiv from Andrews University, and her BS from Oakwood University.

Cristen Bates, MPH
Population Health Division Director
Health Programs Office, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing 

Cristen Bates is a dedicated public health executive with almost 20 years of service to the community. She currently serves as the Division Director for Population Health at the Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing, the state’s Medicaid agency, where she works to support populations that are disproportionately impacted by gaps in our healthcare system. In Colorado, she has led and supported statewide behavioral health policy reforms, state opioid response, community health and benefit strategy for hospitals and safety net health programs, and anti-stigma programs. Ms. Bates spent almost a decade in DC working on federal policy and strategic communication in public health where she earned her Masters in Public Health from George Washington University. Cristen has her undergrad in psychology from the University of Kansas and worked in a community mental health center in her early career. She is also a proud Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Kate Harris
Chief Deputy Commissioner, Life & Health Policy
Colorado Division of Insurance

Kate Harris has spent her career working at the intersection of public health and public policy, primarily on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington State and Colorado. In 2019 she joined the Colorado Division of Insurance as the Chief Deputy Commissioner for Life & Health Policy, where she oversees much of the Division’s work increasing consumer protections and Coloradans’ access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care.

Prior to this Kate was the Policy and External Affairs Director at Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance marketplace. Kate holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance with a graduate certificate from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health.

Summer Gathercole
Acting Deputy Commissioner
Behavioral Health Administration

Summer Gathercole is passionate about Behavioral Health and the opportunity to engage the larger community to improve the system in Colorado. She brings an array of experiences and expertise that not only inform her ability to examine issues from a variety of perspectives, but equip her to listen actively and attentively to the viewpoint of other stakeholders. Her years of experience spearheading philanthropic ventures have provided the tools and insights to effectively evaluate the current programs and funding streams to examine and understand how the system can be more efficient and impactful. Leading various projects that have recommended improvements to Colorado’s system increased the depth of her understanding of the complexities of the behavioral health system and the breadth of its stakeholders.

Summer has worked in direct service as well as at the systems levels, providing training to homeless and low-income individuals to help prepare them for a job, establishing a regional collaboration of workforce development agencies and serving as the Secretary of Labor for Washington, D.C. This wealth of experience positions her well to integrate the input and expertise of people with lived experience, providers, advocates, and policy makers, all of whom view the system through a unique lens.