Board of Trustees & Staff

Scott Dziengelski has served as NABH’s President and Chief Executive Officer since April 2026.

Scott brings nearly 20 years of healthcare policy, advocacy, and coalition-building experience with him to this role. He also serves as an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, focusing on policies affecting people with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

Previously Scott served with the FDA & Life Sciences team at King & Spalding, where he advocated before Congress and federal agencies on legislative and regulatory issues affecting hospitals, manufacturers, pharmacies, and other healthcare providers.

Scott has a strong record of developing and advancing strategic policy initiatives and uniting diverse stakeholders around shared goals. Previously Scott served as NABH’s director of policy and regulatory affairs from 2017 to 2020, where he helped the association’s policy agenda. His background also includes serving as a legislative director in the U.S. House of Representatives and working with the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from American University and a master’s degree in psychology from Pepperdine University. He has received the Medal of Merit from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Friend of Children’s Mental Health Award from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Maria Merlie is the chief operating officer at NABH. In this role, she is responsible for all of the association’s member services and administrative activities.

Maria oversees the NABH Annual Meeting, which includes soliciting and managing the Annual Meeting’s exhibitor and sponsor opportunities, contracting with the hotel, and supervising all activities on site. Maria also serves as the staff liaison to the NABH Board of Trustees, where she coordinates all Board meetings and supervises the Board member election process.

Maria is a graduate of the Katharine Gibbs Business School.

Jessica Zigmond is vice president of communications at NABH. In this role, she leads efforts to communicate the vital role that behavioral health plays in helping Americans achieve overall health.

Jessica brings to the association her experiences as both a journalist and public relations executive. Before joining NABH, Jessica was the vice president, group manager at Ketchum, where she served as project manager for a federal government account overseeing communications about clinical quality standards and value-based incentives to the nation’s healthcare providers.

Previously, Jessica served as the Washington bureau chief for Modern Healthcare magazine, where she oversaw coverage of federal health legislation, regulatory changes, and healthcare industry trends. Earlier as the magazine’s public health reporter, Jessica reported on a range of public health issues, including rural suicide, national emergencies and the uninsured population.

Jessica’s previous experience includes positions with Hager Sharp, Reuters, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Jessica earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Dan Schwartz is vice president of public policy at NABH, where he brings to NABH a range of experiences in federal agencies related to addiction services, including most recently in his role as a senior behavioral health policy analyst in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In that role, Dan engaged in federal policymaking efforts by providing subject matter expertise about the delivery, financing, and regulation of behavioral health services, with an emphasis on the substance use disorder care continuum, controlled substances, and various mental health topics.

Dan also served as the staff lead for the HHS Workgroup on Implementation Strategies for Contingency Management; co-led a workgroup that supported developing legislative proposals related to behavioral health; and was a lead analyst for developing and implementing the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy.

Prior to working at ASPE, Dan worked at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Dan earned a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a Bloomberg Fellow in Addiction & Overdose, and a bachelor’s degree in public health from George Washington University.

Sarah Steverman, Ph.D., M.S.W. is NABH’s vice president of quality and regulatory affairs. In this role, she is responsible for developing regulatory solutions and policy recommendations that support and promote quality behavioral healthcare services nationwide.

Sarah advances NABH’s advocacy priorities through monitoring legislation and regulations that affect the behavioral healthcare industry and providing strategic direction about essential programs and initiatives in the federal regulatory environment. She also manages NABH’s Quality Committee and Behavioral Health Services within General Healthcare Systems Committee.

Sarah came to NABH from HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), where she supported behavioral health policy research and coordination as a social science research analyst. Before joining ASPE, Sarah served as a social behavioral scientist administrator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Prevention Research Branch, where she focused on prevention research in healthcare settings and research on policies and environmental strategies to prevent substance misuse.

Prior to her work in government service, Sarah worked at Abt Associates, where she specialized in behavioral health policy, research, and dissemination of evidence-based interventions. She has also served as a public health analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and led policy efforts at Mental Health America and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Sarah began her career working in direct service with individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions. She earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees at Catholic University of America.