Cobb County Behavioral Health Coordination Meeting
Keynote Speakers
Melanie Kagan
CEO, The Center for Family Resources
Melanie Kagan currently serves as the CEO for The Center for Family Resources located in Marietta, GA. Established in 1960, CFR is a Cobb County-based organization that works exclusively to serve local families that are either homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. CFR also serves as the Lead Agency/Collaborative Applicant for the GA-506 Marietta/Cobb Continuum of Care, now branded the Cobb Homeless Alliance.
Melanie has more than 14 years of experience in the nonprofit sector working primarily in leadership positions that include fundraising, policy and advocacy, nonprofit management, and program oversight. She spent two years serving as the Northwest Regional Director for the United Way of Greater Atlanta where she had oversight of Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, and Paulding Counties. Prior to relocating to Georgia, she held leadership positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico and the United Way of Central New Mexico. Before pursuing a career in the nonprofit sector, Melanie worked in healthcare administration for a decade.
Melanie was honored as both a Women of Influence in 2016 and a 40 Under 40 young professional in 2017 by the Albuquerque Business Journal. She was recognized in 2020 as a “Top 20 in Their 40’s” by Cobb Life Magazine and in 2021 as a Woman of Achievement by LiveSafe Resources. She is a Leadership Cobb Alumni from the class of 2019 and is a 2023 RLI graduate (Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute).
She currently serves on the board of Open Doors Atlanta; is the outgoing Board Chair for the Cobb Homeless Alliance (Marietta/Cobb Continuum of Care); is President of the Board for Georgia Metropolitan Dance Theatre; Communications Co-Chair for Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Executive Board and is a two-year mentor for the Cobb Next Generation Mentoring Program through the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
Melanie and her husband Maxwell, along with their five children, reside in Cobb County.
Rae-Anne Pinckney, LMSW, MPH
Wellstar Center for Health Equity & Community Health
Rae-Anne is a licensed master social worker and has spent her career serving diverse communities in medical care settings by assessing the psychosocial needs of renal and heart failure populations.
Rae-Anne holds both a bachelor's and master’s degree in social work. Through her time working in patient care she realized the need to address larger systemic issues and pursued a second master’s degree in public health, which she completed in May of 2022.
Rae-Anne is the Manager of Community Benefit for Wellstar Community Health where she oversees the management and delivery of community health programs, to include fostering strong partnerships and operationalizing department goals that support strategies outlined in Wellstar’s Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Plan.