About Us
The REACH Institute is dedicated to ensuring that the most effective, scientifically proven mental health care reaches all children and families.
Currently 1 in 5 children experience mental health issues. Only 20% of those get the help they need.
- Families’ health insurance provides limited or no coverage for mental health treatment.
- There aren’t nearly enough pediatric psychiatrists and psychologists, especially in low-income and rural areas.
- Schools don’t know how to identify or address mental health issues.
- Parents are often overwhelmed by the mental health system.
The problem is even worse in underprivileged communities. Mental health issues are rampant, but access to mental health care is even more limited.
That’s where The REACH Institute comes in. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, we have been working to improve children’s mental health since 2006. We train primary care providers, therapists, and other professionals to diagnose and treat mental health issues.
More trained providers means better access to mental health care for hundreds of thousands of suffering children and teens.
Training: How REACH Helps Children
Our response to the child mental health crisis is training–intensive, sustained, and effective training for pediatricians, family practitioners, nurse practitioners, child psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, school personnel, and parents.
All REACH training programs begin with interactive group learning. Then, to solidify learning and support behavior change, learners participate in ongoing coaching and case-based training.
Our flagship program, Patient-Centered Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care, equips pediatric PCPs with the latest evidence-based therapies to diagnose and treat mental health disorders. Led by national leaders in child psychiatry, psychology, and pediatrics, the course teaches the most effective therapies, from psychotherapy to pharmacology.
Our Founder
Peter S. Jensen, MD, founded The REACH Institute in 2006 to address a critical need: bridging the gap between scientific advances in mental health care and the children and families who need them most. As Associate Director of Child and Adolescent Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Jensen initiated, led, and/or participated in many multi-site studies, including the landmark Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA) study. During his time at NIMH, he witnessed firsthand how long it took for effective treatments to reach clinical practice, often leaving children waiting 15 to 18 years for support.
After NIMH, Dr. Jensen joined Columbia University, where he developed the core strategies REACH implements today. By uniting top scientists, mental health experts, primary care providers, parents, and educators, Dr. Jensen created a model to bring evidence-based practices directly into primary care and beyond, starting with REACH’s foundational Patient-Centered Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care (PPP) program, which has trained over 8,000 providers as of 2025.
Dr. Jensen’s dedication to improving child and family health has earned him national recognition, most recently as recipient of AARP’s 2024 Purpose Prize, honoring founders over 50 who are building a better future. Today, he continues to lead REACH as Chair of the Board of Directors, PPP Steering Committee Chair, and teaching faculty member, guiding programs that equip healthcare professionals with the skills to support children and teens on their mental health journeys.
Our CEO
Long before becoming CEO of The REACH Institute in 2018, Lisa Hunter Romanelli, PhD, had a deep, personal interest in mental health. That interest arose as a teenager when her mom suffered from an episode of depression. Understandably scared, Dr. Hunter Romanelli coped through learning, reading as many books as she could about depression and its treatment.
Fortunately, her mom accessed effective care and recovered. Dr. Hunter Romanelli’s passion for mental health remained, however. She went on to earn a BA in Psychology from Harvard University, before completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University and an internship and postdoctoral fellowship in clinical child psychology at Yale University. Dr. Hunter Romanelli began her career at the Center for the Advancement of Children’s Mental Health at Columbia University, where she met and collaborated with Dr. Peter Jensen, who would go on to start The REACH Institute in 2006.
Understanding that she could only impact so many children directly through her clinical practice and that even the best research can take years to benefit children in need, she joined REACH in 2007 because it aligned with her passion and goal of making evidence-based mental health care widely available, especially for our most vulnerable children who face economic, geographic, or systemic barriers to care. Dr. Hunter Romanelli played an integral role in developing REACH’s programs for mental health clinicians, primary care providers, and school personnel, and remains an active faculty member for REACH’s CATIE programs.
Under Dr. Hunter Romanelli’s leadership, REACH has successfully grown its programming, training over 4,000 health professionals since 2020 alone. Moreover, she is implementing a systematic approach to scaling REACH through a licensed-site model, where partner institutions can become approved REACH training sites to continuously and sustainably meet the needs of providers in their regions.
In recognition of her accomplishments as a social impact leader, Dr. Hunter Romanelli was named a Draper Richards Kaplan (DRK) Foundation entrepreneur in 2023 and was awarded the Elevate Prize in 2025.
Beyond her work at REACH, Dr. Hunter Romanelli is a practicing therapist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children and adolescents.
Board of Directors
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Alan Axelson, MD
Psychiatrist, InterCare Solutions
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Andrew Sagat
Managing Director, Blackstone
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Anika Warren Wood
Operating Partner & Chief Organizational Effectiveness Officer, DRK
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Anysa Holder
Chief Advancement Officer, Easterseals NJ
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Deborah Buccino, MD
Pediatrician, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
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Jami Schwartz
Marketing Leader, Airbnb
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Paula S. Davis
Executive Recruiter, Heidrick & Struggles
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Peter S. Jensen, MD
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist | REACH Founder
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Reka Shinkle
Strategic Advisor and Consultant, Riverene bioStrategies
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Robert Marshall
Attorney
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Robin Hulshizer, Esq.
Partner, Latham & Watkins
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Seth J. Finkel, JD, LL.M.
Managing Director, Neuberger Berman
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Sunmee Huh
Resident Psychiatrist
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Wynford Dore
Founder, Zing Performance Ltd