My name is Dominique Sukani, and I am a graduate student at California State University, Long Beach pursuing a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MSHCA). My long-term goal is to advance my professional career as an educator and instruct courses in quality assurance and health informatics. I am passionate about training and identifying professional growth avenues for staff, and I plan to leverage these qualities as a future educator. I am currently employed as a Quality Assurance Assistant Director, and I oversee the agency’s Central Coast, Southern California, and Enhanced Care Management (ECM) programs. A notable project is my oversight of ECM’s expansion to eleven California counties, which each require differing data reporting requirements; moreover, I am a key figure in the agency’s transition to a new Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution and county-EHR instances as part of California Mental Health Services Authority’s implementation of a semi-statewide EHR. These projects allowed me to witness the beginning chapter and transformative potential of mental health data integration. I often delayed my plans to further my education due to the exorbitant cost of tuition. This misaligned with my core values of continuous learning and professional development. Receiving the ACHE scholarship would relieve the stress of financing my education and allow me to continue as a full-time student in the MSHCA program. The ACHE scholarship demonstrates the organization’s value of lifelong learning, and if awarded, it would empower me to pursue my career goals and make meaningful contributions to the behavioral health sector. My professional takeaway from the MSHCA program is to apply the information learned to the behavioral health sector and make significant contributions in improving the delivery of services, collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, and clinical operations at Seneca Family of Agencies (SFA). The healthcare sector is rapidly changing and requiring leaders to adapt their organizations and staff to the shifting landscape. By participating in ACHE SoCal’s events, I aspire to build meaningful connections with fellow healthcare leaders and learn the industry’s best practices to remain relevant, agile, and innovative. The ACHE SoCal chapter has members from various care continuums and health-related companies. And with a local chapter in Orange County, I plan on joining to represent my agency, participate in a reciprocal learning environment, and share recent initiatives to expand the mental health sector. Furthermore, I am drawn to ACHE’s commitment to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through the provision of DEI resources and fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all voices and backgrounds—such as their diversity programs and affiliates. A project that I led in my agency is the refinement of the Quality Assurance department’s hiring practices to create an equitable panel process, mitigate bias, and incorporate questions that encompass elements of DEI. The goal is to align the department’s hiring practices with the agency’s larger DEI commitments and recruit staff that exemplify culturally sensitive care. This is crucial, especially in the behavioral health field, where we support youth and families from underserved communities.