Cristina Ruggiero

Director of Behavioral Health Innovation and Learning

Cristina Ruggiero has spent her career leading, volunteering, and mentoring within non-profit organizations. She has been dedicated to facilitating change, improving outcomes, and creating opportunities for communities and individuals to thrive and grow through education, direct services and advocacy.

As the Director of Behavioral Health Innovation and Learning, Cristina leads the training team at AHCI, which focuses on providing high quality, evidenced based training programs for behavioral health service providers, as well as programs, such as Mental Health First Aid, to community members and organizations to reduce stigma and increase awareness of behavioral health disorders and recovery.

Prior to her time with AHCI, Cristina worked as executive director of a local nonprofit organization, and as an administrator and instructor in higher education in Pittsburgh and northern California. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, as well as a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Outside the office, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, cooking and creating glass art in her kiln.