Our Coaches
Amy (she/her) is the Community Prevention Manager, overseeing the agency’s community prevention services, including the Statewide Prevention Coalition Association (SPCA) and the Ohio Coalitions Institute. With over a decade of experience in community outreach and research, Amy is dedicated to using data-driven approaches to enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.
Amy’s passion for public health was sparked in 2015 during her tenure as director of a Drug-Free Communities coalition with the North Royalton City School District. She went on to serve as a Community Data Coordinator for the HEALing Communities Study at The Ohio State University and later as the Public Health Coordinator and Harm Reduction Lead at the Summit County Public Health Department before joining PAA.
Amy has held the role of co-chair of the North Royalton YMCA Advisory Board for over five years and secretary of Project White Butterfly, a Substance Use Disorder outreach and recovery organization, for two years. She has also taken on various leadership roles within the North Royalton City Schools, including five years as PTA president and more than six years as a volleyball coach. Demonstrating her ongoing commitment to community leadership, Amy is a sworn member of the Civil Service Commission for the City of North Royalton and an active member of both the Ohio Public Health Association and the American Public Health Association.
A believer in the power of personal connection as a basic human need, Amy earned her bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication and uses her conversational skills to build meaningful relationships with organizations and nonprofits. In 2023, she furthered her public health career by obtaining her Master of Public Health (MPH) from Ohio State University.
Julia Nelson (she/her) joined the Ohio National Guard Counterdrug Program in 2020 as a Drug Demand Reduction Operator. In 2024, she was assigned to Prevention Action Alliance, where she supports the Community Prevention Services Team. Previously, Julia worked with Prevention Awareness Support Services in Union County, delivering school-based programs and primarily teaching Too Good for Drugs to 4th and 6th graders. Before that, she served as Program Manager for the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, helping soldiers and their families transition through the deployment process.
Julia is trained as a trainer for:
- Mental Health First Aid for Adults and Adults working with Youth
- Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)
- Minimize Risk, Maximize Life (MRML)
- Wellness Initiative for Senior Education (WISE)
- School-based: TGFD, DBT-Steps A, Signs of Suicide
Julia is an Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Kent State University. In the military, she serves as a healthcare specialist and Emergency Medical Technician.
Originally from Minnesota, Julia now lives in Columbus. She enjoys matcha lattes, reading, gardening, making sourdough and spending time with her partner.
Chief Program Officer, PreventionFIRST!
Clinical Director & Managing Consultant, Kingdom Developers Consulting Inc.
Nichole M. Cobb is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervision designation and an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant. She is the founder and principal officer at Kingdom Developers Consulting Inc (KDC), a behavioral health firm established in December 2008. KDC offers mental health counseling, prevention education, wellness programs, and consulting services.
Nichole’s clinical interest includes the impact of and recovery from traumatic and adverse early life experiences. Her passion for preventing mental health disorders is extended through her facilitation of prevention education that helps individuals overcome Adverse Childhood Experiences and garner Strength to Obtain Purpose (STOP) through KDC’s prevention education and mentoring program.
Nichole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Case Western Reserve University where her research focuses on mitigating the deleterious impact of borderline personality disorder on individuals and families through designed emotional coregulation intervention. Additionally, her research aims to prevent the transmission of borderline personality tendencies to offspring that can occur by way of dysfunctional parenting practices.
Nichole also provides consultation to organizations through grant writing, program development and evaluation. Her consulting strengths include developing, managing, implementing, and evaluating social programs, as well as training and defining quality improvement processes. Nichole has presented trainings on diverse topics relating to mental health, prevention, wellness, and strategies for organizational success to groups, organizations, corporations, and at conferences.
Sharyse N. Jones has over 20 years of experience overseeing prevention, mentoring, behavioral health, academic and social enrichment programs for disadvantaged youth, young adults and families. She is also experienced in providing crisis intervention to persons living with domestic violence, mental health and substance use disorders in residential settings as well as in the community at large.
During her tenure as Manager of Prevention and Adolescent Treatment Services for Recovery Resources, Sharyse was able to return to her alma mater, Shaw High School, to establish an Adolescent Steering Committee to increase coordination of new and existing social services available to the student population.
Sharyse is very proud of the work she has done in support of the next generation of behavioral health clinicians. Currently, she is the Program Director for the Human Services Degree Program at Cuyahoga Community College. In addition, she continues her dedication to higher education and leadership as an active member of the graduate community of the Neighborhood Leadership Development Program (NLDP), the former Treasurer & Program Committee Chair for the African-American Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), the secretary of the CWRU Mandel School Alumni Board and President of the Board of Trustees of Foluke Cultural Arts Center. Sharyse is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW-S) who graduated from the with a Master of Science in Social Administration.
