our team

Dr. Ryan Senters

CEO & Founder

Dr. Ryan Senters has a Ph.D in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Christian Leadership and another in Clinical Psychology. Ryan is a residential faculty member at South Mountain Community College and teaches developmental psychology, statistics, and research methods. He has 15 years in key leadership roles in child welfare agencies, social services, and churches. Ryan founded Ohana AZ in 2015 out of his passion to serve foster children and the underserved in our community. Ohana provides residential and social services for foster children and adults with disabilities. He is also the founder and a board member of the Friends of Ohana, a 501c(3) that provides transitional housing to girls who have been sex trafficked, mentorship to foster youth, and other supportive services.

Out of Ryan’s passion for creating jobs (especially for aged-out foster children) and environments for the community to gather, he also started and owns several other businesses in the Laveen area including Sky Zone Laveen, Hānai Coffee and Wine Bar, and F45 Laveen and Goodyear. Ryan lives in Laveen with his wife Sara and their 6 children (4 of whom were adopted through foster care). Ryan also serves on the Laveen Elementary School District Governing Board and Laveen and South Mountain's Chamber of Commerce.

Contact Ryan through:

Mandi Lawson

Executive Assistant to Ryan Senters

mandi@ohanaaz.org

Kevin Deasy

Chief Operations Officer

Kevin earned a Master’s of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and has 13 years experience working within churches and nonprofits. Kevin met Ryan and Sara while in seminary and then began working together at Christian Family Care with teens and kids with special needs in foster care. During this time Kevin's love and passion continued to grow for teens in foster care and kids/adults with special needs, which motivated him to come aboard Ohana AZ. As the Chief Operations Officer, Kevin enjoys working and investing into Ohana leadership in order to help create a culture that reflects Ohana's Core Values. It is vital that all Ohana leadership and staff live out the Vision and Mission of Ohana and Kevin is excited to help make this a reality through providing oversight to improve the day to day quality service. Kevin also enjoys being an adjunct instructor at Arizona Christian University and Grand Canyon University. Kevin is married to his wife, Priscilla, and together they have 4 boys.

Mark Abram

Chief Development Officer

Mark has a well-rounded background of Business Operations for profit and nonprofit organizations. He has successfully managed several multi-million dollar organizations for more than 30 years and brings his vast experience to Ohana. Mark has led successful continuous improvement and quality initiatives resulting in major cost reduction while increasing overall quality of service. He has experience in leading organizational change and is a champion for community outreach. Mark is a native Arizonan and enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, kids and 8 grandchildren every chance he gets. Mark has served on several Boards for profit and non-profit companies as well as serving in several leadership roles in Economic Development organizations.

Jessie Sauceda

Chief Business Officer

Jessie came to Ohana in 2020 after spending  11 years in the medical field. Within that time she helped open a new clinic, manage finances, oversaw a department, trained new hires and created new processes. What she loved most was being apart of her patients journey and making a difference. She started Ohana as a project manager launching new businesses. After launching Sky Zone she stepped in as the General Manager where she enjoyed leading a team of young people and helping them learn and grow towards their goals. Currently as our Director of Business Development, she gets the best of both worlds, overseeing the businesses and making an impact in young people's lives. Outside of Ohana, Jessie loves spending time with her husband and their three daughters.

Greer Saylor

Program Director

Austin Lopez

Director of Permanency & Supportive Services

Yvonne Solis

Program Manager

Mercedes Conner-Braker

Program Manager

Tina Williams

Program Assistant

Faith Bahn

Youth Advocate

Marcos Padilla

Youth Advocate & Young Adult Care Coordinator

Jen Fellars

Youth Advocate

Jordan Torres

Program Director

Jorge Cervantes

Program Manager

David Garcia

Program Manager

Carol Mitchell

Program Manager

Andrea Hylton

Community Engagement Director

Maranda Turnbough

HR Specialist

Mandi Lawson

Communications Manager & Executive Assistant to Dr. Ryan Senters

Emma Elsner

Compliance & Training Manager

Vanessa Duran

Compliance Manager

Scott Walker

Director of Facilities & Transportation

Cory Lawson

Facilities Field Supervisor

Robert Janca

Facilities Technician

Jimmy Sanchez

Facilities Technician

Savanna Kukurba

General Manager, Hānai