Emily Acker, President and CEO of Hillside, and Kimberly Young, Assistant Medical Director at Hillside

On June 21, we are joined by Emily Acker, President and CEO of Hillside, and Kimberly Young, Assistant Medical Director at Hillside to discuss the following:

• The origins of Hillside and its current mission as a leading youth and young adult mental health provider;
• Why the need for youth and young adult mental health services is so critical now, particularly while enduring the COVID-19 pandemic;
• An exploration of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) as an effective treatment modality.

Emily R. Acker, President and CEO of Hillside

Areas of Experience: Healthcare Administration, Mental Health/Healthcare, Advocacy, Education/Academic, Non-Profit, Foster Care, Community Based Health Services, Strategic Planning, Collaborative Networks, Board Leadership, Acquisition Management, Risk Management, JC Accreditation

Emily R. Acker has served children and adolescents for over thirty years in a variety of non-profit organizations. She began her current role as President and CEO of Hillside in 2014 and has guided Hillside’s expansion of its continuum of services to include psychiatric residential treatment, day treatment, therapeutic foster care, outpatient treatment, and intensive in-home treatment services. Serving over 700 children and families this year, Hillside’s clinical treatment is based in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Hillside was the first residential treatment program to become a DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified Program™ in the nation.

Prior to Hillside, Acker’s career included leadership roles at Inner Harbour and Youth Villages. She also served as Executive Director of MAAC from 2001 to 2004. She currently serves as Chair of the Georgia Alliance of Therapeutic Services and serves on the board of directors for another child welfare provider association, Together Georgia. Acker is on the board of directors for Starting Over, a non-profit faith-based organization providing court-ordered supervised visitation for children at no cost. She is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2019 and attended Harvard Business School Executive Education Series: Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Leadership.

Acker is a native of Texas and completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology at The University of the South-Sewanee. She earned a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Central Michigan University. She and her husband are the parents of three young adults and currently reside in Douglasville.

Kimberly Young, Assistant Medical Director at Hillside

Kimberly Young is a Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Assistant Medical Director at Hillside, a nonprofit organization providing a continuum of mental health services for children and adolescents. She has spent the majority of her career working with children struggling with mood disorders such as severe Depression and Anxiety, Bi-Polar Disorder, Self-Harming Behaviors, Impulsivity, and Mood Dysregulation. At Hillside, Kimberly treats clients with the evidence-based treatment modality, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. She is a passionate believer in the efficacy and benefit of DBT for mental health and promotes its use as an early intervention and prevention method of mental illness.