Our dedicated team has a wide range of experience working with schools, families, communities, children, and adolescents.
Get to know the people who make MAPS a success!
Dana Heisel, M.Ed, is the Program Manager of Maximizing All Potentials. She has been with the MAPS program since 2018 and is excited about the growth of the program and ongoing potential for new opportunities to reach and impact not only youth but communities as a whole. Dana is responsible for oversight of the staff, alcohol and other drug programming and mental health intervention services in participating schools and communities. After having completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University, Dana began her career in the mental health field. Always having a passion for education and wanting to work with a younger population, Dana pursued her Masters of School Counseling through Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This allowed her to combine her work in the mental health and education field, which she has done for nearly 20 years now. She has an extensive background in providing direct services to students, staff, and families in diverse K-12 settings, along with community crisis and prevention work. Dana is passionate about prevention and helping schools and community entities to be proactive in promoting the health, safety, and overall wellness of those they serve. She enjoys teaching, training, and empowering her team to take control of their mental health and wellness and know how to best support themselves and others. When she is not working, Dana enjoys spending time with her two awesome children, her wonderful husband, and energetic lab. They enjoy spending time together outdoors, boating in the summers, cheering on our favorite sports teams, cooking, traveling, and just relaxing.
Lori Altrudo, MSCP, LPC, is a Behavioral Health Liaison at the University of Pittsburgh MAPS program. She has worked at MAPS since 2015. She has over 20+ years in the mental health and education field. She works in a local school district, helping elementary school students to overcome their barriers to learning. She helps them to become more understanding of their feelings and learning. She connects students and their families to community services when needed. In addition, she provides support to students, families, and school staff to help their students become successful at school. Lori provides classrooms with social-emotional learning lessons and has groups about friendship, communication, feelings, and anger, along with other social-emotional groups. Lori is also working with ESL students to help them be comfortable expressing their feelings. Lori loves to watch students transform into individuals who understand their feelings better by the end of the year. Lori received a BS in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.S. from Clarion University, and started working as a case manager and worked in the behavioral health field. She worked as a Student Assistant Liaison (SAP) in several school districts around Allegheny County. She has also worked as a mental health therapist. Lori then went back to school and received her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Chatham University and went on to get her LPC (License Professional Counselor). She has a passion to help all the students she meets. They all know how important a SMILE can be! Lori is a mother of three children- (ages 11, 9, and 9). She is proud to have boy/girl twins. She loves spending time with her kiddos and watching them play soccer, basketball, lacrosse, swim, sing, and dance. Her family enjoys bike rides, sports, nature, and hiking. Her kids also love to experiment, explore, and create new things.
Georgette Ayres, MA, is a Behavioral Health Liaison at the University of Pittsburgh MAPS program. She has over 25 years of experience providing community, school, and home-based services. She worked as a domestic violence shelter volunteer and paraprofessional counselor in college while working toward her undergraduate degree in criminology and psychology. Following graduation, she served as a child welfare case worker before moving on to supervise teen independent living and foster care programs. Wanting to do more to address the needs of youth and families, she returned to school and completed her graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling. Since that time, she has worked closely with programs and initiatives that support individuals and families with diverse backgrounds and needs. This includes serving as a community-based mental health therapist, RTF therapist, mental health consultant, school site coordinator, and student assistance program liaison. Georgette has provided services in schools in Allegheny and Westmoreland County for the past 10 years to connect students and families with services that target barriers to achievement. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, volunteering, and trying to teach her new 10-year-old dog how to be a dog.
KB Bradley (they/them), BA, is a Prevention Specialist with the MAPS program. Since graduating with honors from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English Writing and Theatre Arts, KB has worked in schools and nonprofits endeavoring to support independence for people with disabilities, encourage students of all ages to actively engage in their education, and promote safety and belonging for youth who are at risk for homelessness, violence, or negative mental health outcomes. Before becoming a Prevention Specialist in 2023, KB spent several years as an educator at a school for students with learning disabilities, where they taught reading and math interventions for second through eighth grade students and co-led a counseling support group for LGBTQ+ middle schoolers. They have also completed non-degree credits in Early Childhood Education and Development, with research focusing on risk and protective factors for LGBTQ+ students in schools. KB is passionate about helping students of all ages overcome barriers to getting a quality education, and they have spent much of their personal and professional life advocating for children and adults with disabilities and volunteering with efforts to raise awareness about book bans and increase literacy. As a Prevention Specialist, KB leads classrooms and small groups on coping skills, social skills, conflict resolution skills, decision making skills, and other non-academic life skills that help enable K-12 students to be the best versions of themselves, both in and out of the classroom. Outside of their full-time job, KB is a published writer with work across genres, a hobbyist theatre artist who volunteers with middle school musicals and occasionally takes singing and acting jobs at both the professional and amateur level, and an avid reader. They also enjoy playing guitar, roller skating, backpacking with their brother, and rewatching old sitcoms with their partner and cat.
Celina Cantini, M.S., is a Prevention Specialist who joined the MAPS team in 2023. Celina graduated from Ringgold High School where she was a 4-year letterman and two-year captain on the varsity softball team. She went on to play collegiate softball and study Athletic Training at Marietta College in Ohio. There she was a pitcher, first baseman, and designated hitter for the Pioneers for two years. After suffering an injury, she transferred to the University of Pittsburgh Main Campus to pursue her degree in Exercise Science. Pitt gave Celina endless opportunities in the Exercise Science field, her favorite being her clinical internship experience she completed her senior year with UPMC Sports Medicine at the Art Rooney Sports Complex, also known as the Steelers Facility. After graduating, she began working for a company out of Pittsburgh called JumpBunch. There she was a Fitness Coach where she taught kids from JumpBunch, a program that offered fitness and sports for ages 18 months through 12 years old. There were over 70 different sports and fitness activities she taught to different children in schools, childcare facilities, and local community centers. While working, Celina began earning her Master’s Degree at California University of Pennsylvania. At Cal U, she was in the Graduate School of Research Studies in the Exercise Science and Health Promotion Program. Celina specifically decided to study the sports psychology concentration. Over the last year and a half, Celina has gained valuable experience and grown a passion for working with students in schools while she served as a Behavioral Health School Educator. As a BHSE, she worked with K-12 grade students at different schools in Allegheny County teaching them about evidenced based coping skills, mindfulness, how to handle emotions and more. Celina helped to create the curriculum and other various activities that were utilized with students across the county. Celina is very excited to be a part of the MAPS team at the University of Pittsburgh. Her goals to provide prevention services to students and community members include adding new and exciting programming and being able to partner her passion for sports with drug and alcohol prevention and mental health wellness and awareness.
Sami Conley, M.S.Ed., serves as a Social Services Liaison in a local school district at both the elementary and high school level. She works closely with the school staff to provide proactive interventions to at-risk students. She is able to meet individually with students, run small groups on various topics, such as friendship and emotional regulation, and provide behavioral health screenings to identify barriers to learning. After determining a student’s needs, Sami helps connect families to various services and resources within the community. She is a member of the Student Assistance Program (SAP) in each building. Sami began her journey with MAPS in November 2023, but has been working with children in the education field since 2016. She previously held a position as a School Counselor at a private high school. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, an Addictions Specialist Certificate, and a Master’s in School Counseling from Saint Vincent College. When she is not working, Sami enjoys spending time with her husband and cat, building Legos, and watching movies!
David Frazier, M.S., joined the MAPS team in 2018 as a Social Services liaison. During his time with MAPS David has provided extensive services to youth in schools. He has engaged with students one-on-one as well as conducting groups to address issues such as anger management, social skills, and conflict resolution. David provided direct programming related to drug and alcohol use and prevention and has been an integral part of the Student Support Team, monitoring mental health services and supporting students to achieve their academic goals. David also provides services and programming within the community and has offered presentations on a range of subjects related to mental health, wellness, gambling and drug and alcohol prevention. David serves a range of populations from youth to seniors across the county.
David holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Lock Haven University and a master’s degree in applied developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to his position with the University of Pittsburgh MAPS program, David had a comprehensive career in the mental health field working with patients in both inpatient and out-patient settings, most recently in crisis intervention. Initially working in an in-patient setting and then an outpatient setting in rural Pennsylvania, David moved to Pittsburgh, which opened up a wealth of new experiences. While working in mental health crisis intervention David decided that he wanted to pursue a career helping at-risk youth. The MAPS program has given David a warm welcome, and fostered growth and change while allowing him to pursue his goals to help at-risk youth in the community. David enjoys spending time with his wife and son watching baseball, playing basketball, baking, and engaging in other outdoor activities.
Cara Kelly, M.Ed, Social Services Liasion with MAPS since 2018. The focus of my current position is to collaborate with administrators, school counselors, teachers and staff to provide drug and alcohol prevention, facilitate social and emotional groups, provide wellness activities, support students 1:1 or who are in crisis or experiencing a traumatic event. I am also heavily involved in helping school districts and the community by providing prevention information, evidenced-based prevention programs, and training that have a positive impact on well-being and mental health. I also enjoy teaching a Sports and Drugs class at Pitt. I have 20+ years of experience in the mental health field working and supporting school districts and the community. I have a BA in English/Communications from Gannon University and a M.Ed. in school counseling from Slippery Rock University. I am also a certified Life Coach. My passion is helping others improve their well-being and mental health. I take pride in advocating for students and families and doing whatever I can to help make a positive impact in someone else’s life. I was a college athlete playing women’s basketball at the Division II level and still try to be as active as I can, or that my body will let me! I am married and have three children. When not working, I am busy attending my children’s sporting events, Pitt football games, boating, volunteering, cooking, and working on my side business Wieners on the Water. Yes, I sell hot dogs on a pontoon boat