Get the guidePEOPLE & CONNECTIONS
The people and organizations bringing this conversation together.
Presenters, the planning team, and community perspectives. The working schedule shows current session assignments.
Carolinas for Care
Gina Giorgio is the founder and executive director of Carolinas for Care. Her work brings education, research, community building, and policy advocacy together across the Carolinas. Based in Charlotte, she has a background in clinical and translational research and communications research, with a longstanding focus on the families affected by trauma.
Learn moreDérive Health
Jonathan Leake is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and co-founder of Dérive Health. His training includes psychedelic-assisted therapy study through CIIS, MAPS training, and ketamine training through the Living Medicine Institute. His work connects clinical ketamine care with a supportive treatment environment and continuing care in Charlotte and Pinehurst.
Learn moreMihalo Medical · RESOLV Proving Ground
Kenneth “Trip” Johnson founded Mihalo Medical in Southern Pines after a career spanning emergency medical services, emergency medicine, and work with U.S. Army Special Forces. His practice emphasizes time, ongoing relationships, and an integrative approach to primary care. He also contributes to the veteran wellness conversation through RESOLV Proving Ground.
Learn moreTeam SAPO
Sean Wilson is a co-founder of Team SAPO. The organization describes his background in business operations, project management, community engagement, and nonprofit collaboration. His work with SAPO focuses on shaping partnerships and support for veterans and families through an approach that considers health, relationships, identity, and purpose together.
Learn moreBlissful Alchemists
Brittany Campbell Wolters is a Fayetteville entrepreneur, community builder, and co-founder of Blissful Alchemists. A military spouse, she develops welcoming spaces and military-connected wellness programming for spouses, couples, and families. Her work emphasizes connection, self-care, and community as everyday parts of a broader healing journey.
Learn moreShift Happens Therapy
Ashley is a licensed clinical mental health counselor associate whose work emphasizes trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, somatic approaches, mindfulness, and compassion. Her practice offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and integration, including collaboration with Dérive Health in Pinehurst. She brings an understanding of military and first responder family life to her work.
Learn moreEvent emcee · planning team
Nicholas is helping bring the summit together and is listed as emcee in the latest planning notes. He will welcome guests into the theater program and help connect the afternoon’s conversations.
Learn moreMeet the partners named on the flyer and in the current planning tracker. Profiles explain their work; participation still being finalized is labeled below. Booth locations will be added as confirmed.
Organizer & curator
Carolinas for Care brings veterans, clinicians, researchers, and community leaders into the same conversation about emerging mental health care. Its work combines public education, community building, research advocacy, and policy engagement across North and South Carolina. Founded by Gina Giorgio, the organization grew from the North Carolina Psychedelic Policy Coalition into a regional network. At the summit, its role is to connect people, ideas, and practical next steps.
Supporting sponsor & community partner
Dérive Health provides clinician-led ketamine care in Charlotte and Pinehurst. Its approach brings a medical team, a thoughtfully designed treatment environment, and an individualized care plan together. The clinics also connect ketamine care with psychotherapy when appropriate. For veterans exploring local treatment, the useful starting point is an assessment and a conversation about treatment fit, follow-up, costs, and the exact referral or authorization needed.
Supporting sponsor
Mihalo Medical is a Southern Pines primary care practice founded by Dr. Kenneth “Trip” Johnson. Its membership approach emphasizes time with a physician and ongoing communication. The practice describes a combination of primary care, physical health guidance, nutritional counseling, and other services organized around the individual. It adds a medical perspective to whole-person care: mental health concerns can be discussed alongside sleep, nutrition, physical health, and everyday function.
Supporting sponsor
Supporting sponsor named by the organizers. Its approved profile and website will be added when available.
Supporting sponsor
Supporting sponsor named by the summit organizers.
Published host partner
A nonprofit offering veteran-focused programs and support, including programs described on its site for veterans and families.
Community partner
Team SAPO is a veteran-led nonprofit focused on Special Operations veterans and their spouses. Its model brings physical health, psychological support, relationships, spirituality, and purpose into one conversation. The organization describes programs involving preparation, natural medicine approaches, integration, mentorship, and community accountability. For someone considering a program, the next step is to ask how those pieces work together, who is eligible, and what continuing support is available.
Community partner
Blissful Alchemists is a Fayetteville community and wellness space co-founded by Brittany Campbell Wolters. Its gatherings include guided meditation, journaling, meaningful conversation, and other opportunities for connection. Brittany describes military-connected wellness programming that supports spouses, couples, and families. This brings an everyday community perspective to the summit: healing can also involve finding a welcoming space, practicing self-care, and feeling less alone between clinical appointments.
Published host partner
RESOLV Proving Ground is a nonprofit serving the Special Operations veteran community. Its public introduction centers on supporting people who have served in demanding military roles. For veterans and families, an organization like RESOLV can be a place to ask about available programs, community connection, and routes toward support. Learn directly from the team how its current work fits with your needs and existing care.
The partner website currently asks for a password. Ask Gina for an introduction. Contact Gina about this partner
Community sponsor
Shift Happens Therapy offers a trauma-informed psychotherapy approach that considers both emotional experience and the body. Ashley describes using EMDR, somatic work, parts work, mindfulness, and compassion according to the individual’s needs. The practice also offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and integration, including work alongside Dérive Health in Pinehurst. Military and first responder families are part of its community focus. Therapy can help connect a treatment experience with changes in everyday life.
Community sponsor
EYWA is a biotechnology company working on the production of psychedelic compounds for research and the development of future mental health treatments. Its public site describes a focus on consistency, laboratory rigor, and sustainability. It represents a different part of the care conversation: the work needed to study medicines in a reproducible way before wider adoption. A research supplier’s work should be understood separately from a clinic offering treatment today.
External support resource
Special Operations Foundation support for urgent needs, health navigation, and rehabilitative activities.
External support resource
Thank You Life is a nonprofit that helps reduce financial barriers to ketamine-assisted care through participating providers. Dérive Health’s current website confirms a partnership and a Dérive Health Healing Fund. Assistance depends on the program’s review and available funding. If cost is part of your decision, ask a participating clinic about the current process before planning treatment, and confirm what assistance would cover in your situation.
Research & technology resource
Waello develops a digital platform for therapists and patients to organize treatment and track progress. Its public site describes tools for personalized care protocols, symptom and dose tracking, notes, habits, reminders, and professional dashboards. These tools point toward a practical part of future care: keeping the plan understandable and making changes visible over time. Ask how a clinician uses the information and how patient choices and privacy are handled.
Participation being finalized
SOF Hub Foundation focuses on helping the Special Operations community find trusted organizations and resources. Its public introduction includes service members, veterans, spouses, and families across different phases of military life. It also emphasizes collaboration among the organizations providing support. That navigation role matters when useful services exist but are difficult to find: a clear connection can help someone move from searching for help to a practical next conversation.
Participation being finalized
Bravory Bakehouse is a Southern Pines bakery with a mission connected to military spouses and families. Its cookies are handcrafted by military spouses, and its website describes supporting military-family organizations through a portion of online sales. Its contribution is community and hospitality: a chance to meet, share something good, and recognize the people who support service members at home. Food can be a simple doorway into a larger conversation about belonging.
Community partner
Padma provides in-person and online counseling for adults in North Carolina. Its public site emphasizes trauma-informed mental health and substance-use care, a collaborative approach, and looking at the person beyond a diagnosis. It also lists psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy among its areas of focus. The next conversation is about the services currently offered, what preparation or integration support involves, and which approach fits your circumstances and preferences.
Participation being finalized
LadyBird Soma describes body-centered practices for reconnecting with yourself and continuing integration between sessions. Its public introduction emphasizes exploring your relationship with the body at your own pace. If this approach interests you, begin with a conversation about the actual practices offered, the facilitator’s training, and adaptations for your comfort and health. Body-based support should respect your choices and leave room to pause or decline a practice.
Community partner
Wana Navu Kava Bar is a community gathering place with locations in Fayetteville and Sanford, North Carolina. Its menu includes non-alcoholic beverages such as kava, kombucha, coffee, and tea. At the summit, meet the team to learn about its community spaces and current offerings. Beverage offerings are separate from clinical treatment; ask the team about ingredients and available alternatives.
Community partner
Microdosing Collective focuses on community, education, and policy advocacy around low-dose psychedelic use. Its work includes educational webinars, in-person events, and advocacy for regulated access. The organization also acknowledges the limited research on the benefits of low-dose use. Meet the team to discuss its educational work, research priorities, and policy goals. Learning about an advocacy organization is not a recommendation to use a substance or a substitute for individual clinical care.
Community sponsor
Community sponsor named by the summit organizers.
Community sponsor
Community sponsor named by the summit organizers.
Community partner
Community partner named by the summit organizers.
Community partner
Community partner named by the summit organizers.
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