Omni Family of Services and Omni Family Institute have been named a Certified Hope-Centered Organization, making them only the third organization in the United States to receive this recognition from the Hope Research Center.

The certification honors organizations that deliberately incorporate the Science of Hope into leadership, employee development, organizational culture, and the delivery of services. After completing an extensive self-assessment and fidelity review, Omni was recognized for applying hope-centered practices throughout its operations, including employee well-being, leadership development, clinical services, and efforts to improve outcomes for the children, adults, and families it supports.

“This recognition represents a significant transformation for our organization,” said Jane Wintz, Chief Executive Officer of Omni Family of Services. “The Science of Hope has grown beyond being a professional development program and has become an integral part of our culture. It influences the way we lead, care for our employees, enhance our services, and work alongside children and families to create more positive futures. We are proud to be the third Certified Hope-Centered Organization in the nation.”

Omni began its work with the Science of Hope in 2023 with the creation of the Hope Collective, a collaborative effort involving Omni Family of Services, the Hope Research Center, and the Attend Behavior technology platform. The initiative received support through a four-year Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Innovation Grant, funded by the Tennessee General Assembly. The grant was designed to help reduce the effects of adverse childhood experiences on families throughout Tennessee.

What started as a statewide innovation project has developed into a comprehensive, organization-wide approach. The framework now informs leadership development, employee wellness, child welfare practices, behavioral health services, and organizational culture across Omni Family of Services and Omni Family Institute.

During its certification assessment, Omni received recognition for training Hope Navigators, incorporating hope-based approaches into clinical and child welfare services, developing Communities of Practice, and creating the systems necessary to support sustainable, long-term organizational change centered on hope. The assessment also praised the organization's leadership commitment, branding efforts, and use of organizational measurement. At the same time, the review identified further integration of hope-centered principles into organizational policies as an opportunity for continued improvement.

“This certification is the result of years of deliberate effort from our employees and leadership team,” said Mindy Kiser, President of Omni Family Institute. “The Science of Hope offers practical, evidence-based approaches that can build resilience, support employee well-being, and improve outcomes for children and families. We are extremely proud to contribute to this important work and help advance it nationally.”

The Hope Research Center also recognized Amy Savage, Hope Ambassador for Omni Family Institute, for her outstanding contribution to the implementation effort. Savage has played a key role in Hope Navigator training, supported implementation initiatives across several service areas, helped develop Communities of Practice, and worked closely with organizational leaders to incorporate hope-centered practices strategically throughout Omni.

“This accomplishment is shared by every employee who has made hope part of the way we work,” Wintz added. “Together, we are showing that organizations that intentionally foster hope can build stronger teams, healthier workplaces, and more positive outcomes for the people and families they serve.”

As federal regulators begin taking a closer look at the growing overlap between healthcare and consumer influence, one physician is bringing the issue into the national spotlight. Danielle Kelvas, MD has announced the upcoming release of This Is Your Brain on Marketing, a thoroughly researched and deeply personal work arguing that modern medical marketing has moved beyond persuasion and into the realm of biological influence.

Planned for release in late 2026, the book arrives at a pivotal moment, as the Federal Trade Commission and its newly established Healthcare Task Force begin addressing misleading and manipulative healthcare practices. According to Dr. Kelvas, this level of oversight has been needed for years.

“We’ve spent too long thinking of marketing as simple communication. In reality, it functions as behavioral neuroscience deployed on a massive scale,”said Danielle Kelvas, MD.

Rather than presenting a purely argumentative stance, This Is Your Brain on Marketing examines how healthcare marketing systems can shape biology, behavior, and identity. Drawing from neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and clinical experience, Dr. Kelvas explains how modern marketing strategies can influence dopamine systems, interfere with hormonal balance, and gradually alter how individuals perceive themselves and their lives.

The book follows a four-part structure — Becoming, Immersion, Rupture, and Reckoning — and applies these themes to major areas of health, including nutrition, sleep, weight management, mental wellness, and relationships. Throughout these discussions, Dr. Kelvas argues that many struggles people interpret as personal shortcomings are often biologically predictable responses to carefully engineered environments.

“What many people see as a lack of willpower is often a normal biological reaction to environments intentionally designed to shape behaviour,”said Danielle Kelvas, MD.

One especially controversial section explores how direct-to-consumer healthcare advertising has expanded the boundaries of diagnosis, turning ordinary emotional experiences into medicalized conditions while tying identity more closely to labels and treatments. Another chapter focuses on children, examining how marketing systems may affect developing brains, accelerate identity formation, and weaken long-term emotional resilience.

At its core, the book makes both a scientific and ethical case. Dr. Kelvas argues that any system capable of consistently influencing human biology and behavior should be subject to the same level of scrutiny and accountability expected of other major medical interventions.

“If a system can consistently shape biology and behavior, it deserves the same level of accountability as any other powerful medical intervention,”said Danielle Kelvas, MD.

Dr. Kelvas views the FTC Healthcare Task Force as an important institutional acknowledgment that the environments influencing patient behavior may themselves contribute to widespread health challenges — a recognition that strongly aligns with the book’s central message.

Ultimately, This Is Your Brain on Marketing is intended as a compassionate examination of modern healthcare systems and their impact on patients. After years in clinical practice watching individuals blame themselves for problems shaped by forces beyond their awareness, Dr. Kelvas hopes readers will better understand the systems influencing them — and stop seeing themselves as fundamentally flawed.

“This book helps explain why so many people feel damaged or inadequate — and why they aren’t. I’m exhausted by hearing patients dismissed as simply ‘noncompliant,’” said Danielle Kelvas, MD.