Nevada ABA
By Megan McGrew
NABA has continued to work on improvement via a series of key initiatives that were put in place by previous boards with a growing emphasis on providing additional resources for members. Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis (NABA) has continued to prioritize the growth of the organization with increased outreach throughout the state and throughout the profession (all levels of study or credential).
NABA continues to take an active role in matters of public policy that impact behavior analysts in our state. Having previously (2017) supported approved legislation to remove the regulation of behavior analysis from the purview of the Board of Psychological Examiners and instantiate a Board of Applied Behavior Analysis housed within the state Aging and Disability Services Division, in 2021, NABA promoted legislation to establish the state ABA board as a fully independent and autonomous entity. This legislative effort was successful, largely due to the tireless work of NABA’s public policy committee chair, Molly Halligan, MA, BCBA, LBA.
NABA has worked throughout 2021 and 2022 to increase membership and member engagement as well as inclusivity within the organization. An affiliate membership tier specifically for RBTs (Nevada’s fastest growing segment of ABA practitioners) was added in 2022. Virtual town hall meetings (general, April 2022; public policy, June 2022) are also held periodically to create an open forum for discussion between board and committee members, NABA members, and other interested parties.
Additionally, NABA has made it a priority to offer learning opportunities throughout the year. In 2021, NABA organized a speaker showcase in the months leading up to the annual conference, featuring an exciting line-up of speakers with ties to Nevada. These talks were offered virtually and free continuing education credits were offered for members. In April 2022, the NABA outreach committee partnered with the LGBTQ+ Center as well as Opportunity Village, in Las Vegas Nevada, in order to offer a live Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion event (“Compassionate Care Within a DEI Framework”). The cost of attendance was free and the cost of optional continuing education credits was set low to minimize barriers to attendance.
NABA’s practice committee has been very active in 2021 and 2022, reaching out to providers across the state to assess how NABA can best offer support. The practice committee has organized a series of free virtual Q&A sessions with experts on topics of interest. These include sessions on the BACB Ethics Code (July 2022) and best billing practices (September 2022). NABA is looking forward to returning to a live, in-person, annual conference in October 2022, after 2 years of virtual conferences. The conference will take place at the Whitney Peak Hotel, in Reno, NV from October 14–16, 2022.
None of this would be possible without the hard work of the NABA Board, NABA Committee Chairs, and NABA committee members. The NABA executive board changes over each year, in January and each executive board member serves an elect year prior to the start of their term. Current NABA leadership is listed below.
- President: Megan McGrew, PhD, BCBA, LBA
- President – Elect: Christina Lydon, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA
- Treasurer: Kimberly Henkle, MA, BCBA, LBA
- Treasurer-Elect: Natasha Hughes, MEd, BCBA, LBA
- Secretary: Tiffany Aninao, MS, BCBA, LBA
- Secretary – Elect: Kathleen Soyka, MA, BCBA, LBA
- At-Large Representative: Melissa Almanza, MEd, BCBA, LBA
- Student Representative: Will Fleming
- Student Representative-Elect: Angel DePriest, BCaBA NABA
- Committee Chairs: Molly Halligan, MA, BCBA, LBA (Public Policy) Jennifer Bonow, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA (Practice) Angel DePriest, BCaBA, LBA (Outreach)
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