Dr. Dawn Forbes is a nationally recognized leader in improving the care and outcomes for opioid-exposed infants and substance-affected pregnancies. A board-certified neonatologist and pediatrician, she founded NASCEND to translate her clinical expertise into scalable solutions for healthcare teams nationwide. She now guides NASCEND’s vision, product strategy, and national training initiatives. Across 32 years in clinical care, research, and product development, Dr. Forbes has led multiple evidence-driven protocols to transform infant outcomes. She continues to provide opioid-assisted treatment, education, and counseling for pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder through one of the nation’s largest recovery centers. Dr. Forbes has been recognized as a Forbes Next 1000 Entrepreneur to Watch and a Healthcare Hero Innovator as well as a Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine. Under her leadership, NASCEND, a Certified B Corporation, is setting new national standards in neonatal care and workforce training.
Every opioid-exposed infant deserves the best possible start. Yet the lack of standardized care and inconsistent training create avoidable disparities, often leaving outcomes shaped more by circumstance and variable practices than by evidence-based care.
Through innovation, training, and technology, we can change that trajectory. By equipping every provider, family, and system with the knowledge, tools, resources, and confidence they need, we can restore potential for generations to come.
Angie Fleitz is an accomplished operational strategist and entrepreneurial leader with a proven record of transforming organizations through smart systems, strong teams, and mission-driven growth. With more than two decades of operational leadership spanning nonprofit, retail, and design industries, Angie has a clear track record of scaling systems with multimillion-dollar growth. A natural connector, Angie is known for cultivating collaboration and high-performing teams, pairing big-picture vision with precise, disciplined execution. At NASCEND, Angie leads the operational backbone that powers our national expansion, ensuring that growth remains scalable, innovative, data-driven, and aligned with our B-Corp values. Her leadership ensures NASCEND has the structure, capacity, and insight needed to enable meaningful, lasting impact for infants, families, and the healthcare systems that serve them.
Bill Ryan, Ph.D., is a learning and workforce transformation strategist with more than 25 years of experience integrating people, process, and purpose to strengthen organizational capability. A former Chief Learning Officer and Chief Information Officer, he blends instructional design, technology, and leadership strategy to create agile, effective learning environments. Bill brings deep expertise in talent development, workflow learning, and performance support systems—work that directly strengthens NASCEND’s national training initiatives. He supports curriculum design, LMS integration, and the development of clinical performance tools that equip healthcare teams with the skills and confidence needed to deliver consistent, effective care. At NASCEND, Bill ensures our training programs remain scalable, learner-centered, and grounded in modern learning science, helping us deliver the consistent, high-quality training healthcare teams need to improve outcomes for infants and families.
Weston Burchett serves as NASCEND’s Chief Technology Officer, bringing nearly a decade of experience in modernizing organizations through innovative technology, automation, and data-driven decision making. A strategic technologist and systems thinker, Weston has a proven ability to streamline complex processes, introduce scalable architecture, and deliver the infrastructure needed for high-growth organizations. At NASCEND, Weston leads the technology vision that supports our digital clinical tools, data platforms, and learning systems. He oversees product architecture, software development, security, and integrations—ensuring all technology is reliable, scalable, and aligned with clinical, operational, and research needs. Weston collaborates closely with leadership to translate NASCEND’s mission into practical, future-focused technology solutions, providing the structure and innovation required to support national expansion and improve care for infants, families, and healthcare systems.
Dixie Weber, MSN, RN, is a nationally recognized perinatal and women’s health leader with extensive experience improving maternal and infant outcomes. She has provided best-practice, trauma-informed care to women and families navigating adoption, substance use disorder, incarceration, sexual assault, and surrogacy—expertise that strengthens NASCEND’s work with substance-affected pregnancies and opioid-exposed infants. Dixie received the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing’s Distinguished Professional Service Award for her national contributions to maternal health, child health advocacy, and equitable access to care. Her experience in maternal mortality review and performance improvement brings a valuable systems-level perspective to NASCEND. As NASCEND’s Director of Clinical Operations, Dixie supports training program delivery, contributes to evidence-aligned content development, oversees research operations, and ensures all initiatives are clinically grounded, innovative, and designed to advance better outcomes for infants, families, and healthcare systems.