Ray Almada is a third–generation construction professional with over 20 years of experience and a deep commitment to workforce wellness. As a lived–experience advocate grounded in over two decades of recovery, he bridges the gap between the grit of the job site and the critical need for mental health support. 

Ray is the founder of the Wellness Worksite Project, delivering field–tested, respectful strategies to strengthen safety culture and reduce stigma around substance use and suicide prevention. He also hosts the Moving Forward–ESH Podcast, where he shares practical insights on thriving beyond struggle. His mission is to help workers rewrite their stories and embrace a future defined by possibility, not their past. 

Connect with Ray:

LinkedIn | Website

@rayalmada on Instagram

@MovingForward-ESH on YouTube

When we care for the whole worker, we build safer people, stronger families, and better communities.

Brooklann is a Community Outreach Specialist with NAMI Utah and Co-Chair of the Means Safety Workgroup for the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition. She leads statewide efforts to expand safe firearm storage, strengthen cross-sector partnerships, and improve suicide prevention infrastructure across Utah’s 29 counties. Brook helped coordinate the delivery of more than 600 gun safes statewide and supports Utah’s Safe Storage Mapping Project in partnership with Salt Lake County MCOT, SafeUT, and Intermountain Health. She is an experienced trainer in safe messaging, means safety, and suicide prevention education.

Connect with Brooklann:

LinkedIn

Wellbeing is the cornerstone to building anything, yet easy to overlook, which is why I’m passionate about helping others build strong foundations with science-based insights.

Dr. Réka Anna Lassu is a management professor at Pepperdine University. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Central Florida and has an interdisciplinary background in management, communication, and psychology. Réka’s research focuses on leadership and wellbeing at work. For example, she investigates why supervisors’ pressure for employee performance and wellbeing may sometimes backfire. She collaborates with companies across industries on projects that both enhance organizational effectiveness and advance management science. Réka is a regular presenter at international conferences and has published research in peer-reviewed business journals. She has been teaching university business courses for 10+ years. Outside of academia, Réka has worked in the U.S., Hungary, & Switzerland. She started as an assistant for a civil engineering company at a construction site, witnessing firsthand the importance of worker wellbeing. Later, she was the manager of a purposeful travel leadership development program, a TEDx organizing team member/speaker coach, the fundraising coordinator for a social entrepreneurship start-up, and a professional development coach for small business owners.

Connect with Réka:

LinkedIn | Website

I believe in building the people who build our communities, because healthy workers create safer, stronger outcomes for everyone.

Stephanie Lemek is the Founder and CEO of The Wounded Workforce and the Executive Director of the Center for Construction Mental Health. With more than a decade of in-house experience working in and alongside the construction industry, Stephanie brings a rare blend of operational understanding, people strategy expertise, and real-world credibility to her work.

Connect with Stephanie:

LinkedIn | Linktree

I grew up in construction with my family business and lost my brother to suicide in 2005. That loss drives my passion and commitment to help our industry become a place where mental health is supported and hope is within reach.

Kara (Houck) McCaffrey is the part-owner and Chief Wellness Officer at Houck Group of Companies based in PA. A dedicated advocate for mental health and wellness, she is a certified mental health first aider, Vital Cog instructor, and a compelling public speaker on these crucial topics. Her commitment is deeply personal, rooted in the loss of her brother, Gary, to suicide in 2005.

With more than six years of experience in the construction industry and over a decade in healthcare IT – with a clinical focus on education and suicide prevention within medical software – Kara brings a unique perspective to her work. She is actively involved in regional and national initiatives, serving on committees such as Construction Suicide Prevention Week (2026 Board Chair), the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Pathway Committee), and Project BUILT (Founding Council).

Kara brings a powerful combination of professional expertise, lived experience, and heartfelt passion to her role – working to create lasting, meaningful impact on well-being across both the workplace and the communities she serves.

Connect with Kara:

LinkedIn

I believe if everyone does their small part to make life better around them, big changes are possible for all.

Jon O’Brien is the Executive Director of the Keystone Contractors Association, serving in this role since 2016. At the KCA, he oversees a commercial construction trade association that is active throughout most of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. KCA is renowned for providing the construction industry labor relations, safety services, workforce development, and community service. Mr. O’Brien is also co-host of the Building PA Podcast, a construction podcast established in 2020. He is a graduate from the University of Pittsburgh and he is also a Navy Veteran, serving his country from 1995 to 1999. Outside of work, Jon spends his time supporting his community in Dillsburg, PA and he enjoys life with his lovely wife, three beautiful daughters and Cami, his boxer dog.

Connect with Jon:

LinkedIn 

Our people are more than just a resource to get a job done – they are individuals with unique lives and experiences – and the greatest asset we have.

Angelo is a seasoned operations leader, speaker and author with a passion for improving the construction industry at the intersection of
strategy and people.

With a career spanning leadership roles throughout construction, Angelo brings a unique and refreshing perspective on the future of the industry, reflected in his social media following of over 200,000 construction professionals.

Angelo is also the author of “Human Side of Construction” and “Rebuild Construction” where he shares practical frameworks and insights for leaders navigating today’s complex business landscape.

Angelo’s mission is clear: to empower construction professionals to lead with connection, adaptability, and purpose in an evolving world.

Connect with Angelo:

LinkedIn | Website

I’m trying to fix the toxic system before my kids have to enter it.

Josh Vitale is the Co-Founder & CEO of Project BUILT and the Director of Workforce Transformation for Recharge+.  A former Chair of Construction Suicide Prevention Week, he also serves on the AZDHS Suicide Prevention Plan Review Committee, helping push public systems and job sites toward real-world prevention.

Josh has led life-saving interventions and built high-trust teams on some of the biggest, most complex projects in America, bringing a field-tested understanding of what breaks people and what actually brings them back.

He’s a husband, dad, and soccer coach, known for connecting the dots between leaders, workers, and resources when it matters most. Josh is an outspoken advocate for an ecological approach to the workforce, treating culture, mental health, safety, family stability, and performance as one living system.

Connect with Josh:

LinkedIn | Website