James began his healthcare career as a licensed master social worker, and gained extensive experience in the clinical setting as a case manager, psychiatric crisis clinician and a children’s residential supervisor. During his tenure at Citizen Advocates he has held a variety of progressive leadership positions over the course of a decade. Mr. Button gained a broad understanding of the industry during his experience as the Director of Corporate Compliance and Quality Assurance, where he led the agency to achieve its first national quality accreditation in 2014.

Pursuing his passion for public policy, he left the organization briefly to work closely with state healthcare agencies in Albany as the State of NY transitioned providers from ‘fee for service’ to managed care. During his time in Albany, Mr. Button was responsible for overseeing a statewide regional planning initiative aimed at preparing providers for the move to value based care. He also served as a key liaison between the respective regions and State healthcare executives. While this experience provided him with valuable knowledge of the community behavioral health industry, his deep ties to the North Country were calling him back.

He returned to Citizen Advocates in 2017 to accept the COO position. As COO, Mr. Button was responsible for launching Northwinds Integrated Health Network, IPA and was instrumental in moving the entire network into risk-bearing contracts with managed care companies. Mr. Button’s expertise is in CCBHC, contracting, team building, public speaking, systems change and growth initiatives. He was elevated to CEO in July, 2020.