Amber Capone

Amber Capone is a nationally recognized
leader, advocate, and changemaker in
veteran mental health and family resilience.
As Co-Founder and CEO of VETS, she
has built a globally respected nonprofit at the
forefront of expanding access to
psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans
suffering from post-traumatic stress and
traumatic brain injury.
Since co-founding VETS in 2019, Amber has
helped grow the organization into a highimpact force for change—raising millions in
funding, supporting more than 1,300 veterans, and advancing
critical research and policy initiatives across
the country. Under her leadership, VETS has
become a trusted voice in the national
conversation around mental health
innovation and veteran care.
Amber has played a pivotal role in advancing
legislative efforts, including the
Texas Ibogaine Initiative (TII). Her ability to unite
lawmakers, researchers, and veteran
advocates has helped drive meaningful
progress toward safe, regulated access to
emerging therapies.

In addition to her advocacy work, Amber continues to
expand VETS’ cultural and educational impact through
storytelling. She was instrumental in the production and
release of In Waves and War, a powerful documentary
project that premiered on Netflix and brings visibility to the
veteran healing journey and the potential of psychedelicassisted therapies.
A two-time honoree on Inc.’s Female Founders 500 (2025
and 2026), Amber is widely recognized for her visionary
leadership, strategic insight, and unwavering commitment
to those who have served. Her work is grounded in a
deeply personal mission—to ensure that veterans and their
families have access to the most advanced care available.

Marcus Capone is a visionary entrepreneur, health innovator, and decorated Navy SEAL on a mission to rewrite the future of mental health. A veteran of U.S. Special Operations, Marcus retired from active duty in 2013 after a distinguished career that included multiple combat tours to Afghanistan and Iraq, earning numerous combat awards with valor at SEAL Team Ten and the legendary SEAL Team Six, the world's premier counter-terrorism unit.

As Chairman and Co-Founder of VETS: Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, Marcus leads a national movement that's shattered stigma and paved new trails in evidence-based, alternative therapies for U.S. veterans. By championing groundbreaking solutions and policy reform, Marcus and his team have delivered over $145 million in funding, research, and hope, unlocking public and private funding for innovative brain health treatments, empowering thousands of veterans and families to access truly transformative care.

Building on this legacy, Marcus founded TARA Mind, where he serves as CEO, to bring advanced, science-backed mental health treatments to those who need them most. TARA Mind's elite nationwide network of integrative clinics, providers, and therapists is revolutionizing modern behavioral healthcare, working alongside visionary employers and healthcare systems to redefine wellness benefits and ensure breakthrough therapies are accessible across America. Marcus and his team have built a proprietary AI platform to raise the standard of care, focused on data-driven outcomes. His story and leadership continue to move the needle, driving new standards in mental healthcare and wellbeing for diverse communities both in the US and across the globe.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He then attended graduate school at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a “National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship”. His research thesis focused on impact of substance abuse. He graduated from the School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree.

Dr. Jain served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.

Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC, is an Adjunct Clinical Affiliate in the School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin and a psychotherapist in private practice. Dr. Jain is a co-creator of WILD 5 – A Proven Path to Wellness and co-author of The Science and Practice of Wellness: Interventions for Happiness, Enthusiasm, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO). She is the co-creator of the Psychedelics and Wellness Survey (PAWS), exploring the intersection between psychedelics and wellness. She is the co-host of the newly launched podcast Happy Human 3.0, which explores how modern humans can move beyond merely surviving 21st-century stressors and begin to flourish by integrating neuroscience, positive psychiatry, and compassionate, human-centered care.

In addition, Dr. Jain serves on the Psych Congress Steering Committee, helping guide educational priorities and identify emerging needs in mental health practice. She also teaches with Fluence Training, a leading provider of psychedelic education for mental health professionals, where she serves as faculty in their certification programs in Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).

Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP is a Professor in the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing where his teaching has received the UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, among other recognitions. Trained as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner, he directs clinical nursing operations for Salma Health an early stage psychiatric interventional treatment clinical company. As a researcher, he has collaborated on psychedelics studies of psilocybin and MDMA in the Translational Psychedelics Research (TrPR) and the Carhart-Harris labs at UCSF. A leading voice in nursing, he is a cofounder of the Organization of Psychedelic and Entheogenic Nurses (OPENurses.org), advocating for the perspective of nurses in psychedelic therapy, he has published on psychedelics in the American Journal of Nursing, Frontiers in Psychiatry, The Journal of Humanistic Psychotherapy, and JAMA. An internationally invited speaker, he has lectured at SXSW, Aspen Health Ideas Festival, TEDx, the Singapore Ministry of Health, and Oxford University and can be found at Andrewpennnp.com.

Charles Raison, MD, is a Professor of Human Ecology and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Raison also serves as Director of Clinical and Translational Research for Usona Institute, as Director of the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, Director of Research on Spiritual Health for Emory Healthcare and as Visiting Professor in the Center for the Study of Human Health at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Raison’s research focuses on the examination novel mechanisms involved in the development and treatment of major depression and other stress-related emotional and physical conditions, as well as for his work examining the physical and behavioral effects of compassion training. More recently, Dr. Raison has taken a leadership role in the development of psychedelic medicines as potential treatments for major depression. He was named one of the world’s most influential researchers by Web of Science for the decade of 2010-2019 and has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Raison received the Raymond Pearl Memorial Award from the Human Biology Association “in recognition of his contributions to our understanding of evolutionary biocultural origins of mental health and illness.” Dr. Raison has also won the 2024 Emory University Science on Spiritual Health Torch and Trumpet Award “for a career devoted to the mental and spiritual health of humanity by responding and attending to suffering with a compassionate heart and a keen scientific mind.”