In new role, Dr. Teresa Garate works to raise awareness of Rogers nationwide
02/15/23 03:00:pm
Teresa Garate, PhD, is excited to bring more opportunities for Rogers in her role as executive vice president, strategic development and growth. In addition to being new to the Rogers leadership team, this role was created as part of the vision of President and CEO John Boyd, PsyD.
“In my role, I help the leadership team increase awareness of Rogers in all 10 states by developing local, state, and national government relations strategies, strengthening existing partnerships with a diverse group of community partners and forging new ones, and exploring grant opportunities to support new program initiatives,” she explains.
Dr. Garate, who joined Rogers in late November, is responsible for the development and implementation of community-based growth plans, supporting John with the System’s strategic planning process, and enhancing existing and/or establishing new innovative relationships with payors, governmental agencies, and related partners.
Her position is focused on ensuring that Rogers is prepared to leverage existing opportunities for growth, including potential news programs, alignments, and grants. In support of these goals, she has oversight of Community Strategic Partnerships and the Outreach and Marketing and Communications departments.
Dr. Garate brings more than 30 years of experience in public health, social and human services, and education. Since 2017, she served as senior vice president, strategic partnerships and engagement for Gateway Foundation, which is a national non-profit with services in eight states treating people with substance use disorders.
In addition to leadership roles at Gateway Foundation and in public service both at the Illinois Department of Public Health and Chicago Public Schools, Dr. Garate is an experienced administrator having worked as CEO to two medium non-profit organizations serving people with disabilities in integrated settings.
“Rogers is a very strong organization with a bright future, and I’m glad to be a part of it,” Dr. Garate says. “Rogers has been around for 115 years, which is an amazing accomplishment, and now with new leadership and energy, it is positioning itself for renewed growth, innovation, and expansion. Rogers is focused on the future and how we can serve as many people as possible at a time when mental health and addiction treatment is needed more than ever.”
Since arriving at Rogers, Dr. Garate has visited Oconomowoc, including Herrington Center for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, West Allis, Brown Deer, Hinsdale, Skokie, San Diego, Tampa, Miami, Sheboygan, Kenosha, Madison, Appleton, and Los Angeles.
She plans to make it to all Rogers’ locations by mid-summer and looks forward to meeting patients and her new teammates and raising visibility of Rogers in all 21 communities and beyond.
“I want Rogers to be top of mind when it comes to premier mental health and addiction service providers,” Dr. Garate says. “I’m also excited for Rogers to continue to grow. Our first program outside of Wisconsin was less than a decade ago and we now have a presence in a growing number of states, which is very rapid growth.”
Dr. Garate is also impressed by Rogers Research Center and our equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.
“Rogers has done a great job of developing an EDI culture for our workforce,” she says. “I’d like to see that grow out into the marketplace and make sure we’re serving people from every dimension of diversity.”
Getting to know Dr. Garate
Dr. Garate grew up in South Florida and South America. With parents from Peru, she is a first-generation Hispanic woman with Spanish as her first language. For the last 36 years, Dr. Garate has lived in the Midwest and currently resides in a suburb of Chicago with her life partner and their dog, Charlie. Their home is close to O’Hare International Airport, which comes in handy as she ventures to our locations across the country.
Dr. Garate holds two bachelor’s degrees in applied psychology and special education from Loyola University of Chicago, and a master’s degree and PhD in special education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Dr. Garate has two children: Micaela (Micky), 25, a registered behavior therapist who underwent brain surgery to successfully treat epilepsy, and Nicolas (Nico), 22, who plans to graduate this year from Illinois State University, overcoming a specific learning disability.
“I have taught my children that their disabilities do not define them and that there is no shame and stigma in them,” Dr. Garate says. “But many children don’t have the resources or advocates my children had. I know that the Rogers team has these advocates, and I am excited to walk among them.”
In her free time, Dr. Garate enjoys reading, doing “burn body bootcamp,” traveling, entertaining guests at her pool, and decorating her house for the holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween.
