Our Staff
FRAN GERBIG
Fran (she/her) joined Prevention Action Alliance as assistant executive director in 2017 after enjoying a long-standing relationship with our agency, which included serving on committees and participating in our learning collaborative. In July 2020, the Board of Directors appointed her executive director.
At Prevention Action Alliance, Fran supervises staff, assists in program and grant development, and represents our agency on various state and local committees, boards, and coalitions. She is an active member of the Ohio Prevention Professionals Association, the Ohio Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Steering Committee, the Coalition for Healthy Communities, and the Great Lakes Prevention Technology Transfer Center Advisory Council. Additionally, Fran was appointed to the RecoveryOhio Advisory Council and serves on the Governor’s School Safety Working Group.
Previously, Fran worked as the health and wellness manager for Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery in Canton, where she coordinated Drug-Free Stark County, a Drug-Free Communities-funded substance misuse prevention coalition. Fran is an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant and earned a bachelor’s degree in child and family ecology from the University of Akron and a Master of Public Health degree in health planning and administration from the University of Tennessee.
Fran enjoys gardening, attending live concerts, spending time with family, and traveling throughout the United States.
LEAH BLEWITT
Leah (she/hers) joined Prevention Action Alliance in 2022 as the Communication and Graphic Design Coordinator. She now serves as the Communications and Graphic Design Manager - leading the development of communication strategies and ensuring brand consistency across all platforms. She also manages publication schedules and oversees the visual direction of PAA’s communications, helping to craft and deliver impactful messages.
Leah is an Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant with a bachelor’s in business administration from The Ohio State University. Leah previously worked in marketing and communications roles at The Ohio State University Technology and Commercialization Office, Junior Achievement of Central Ohio, and BSSI, an IT outsourcing business. Along the way, she discovered her love for design, believing that effective design leads to better communication and increased brand visibility.
Beyond work, Leah is a devoted spouse and parent. She enjoys time with her family, running, crocheting, and is actively involved in her local church.
EDUCATION & EVENT COORDINATOR
OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
CLAUDIA DECAPUA
Claudia (she/her) joined Prevention Action Alliance in 2025 as the Operations Coordinator. In this role, she helps keep the organization running smoothly by supporting programs, coordinating trainings and events, and assisting with day-to-day operations.
Alyce (she/her) joined Prevention Action Alliance as Resource Development Manager in 2021. With more than 10 years in prevention, Alyce has had the opportunity to develop and supervise after-school prevention programs as well as implement environmental prevention initiatives at the local and state level.
Prior to joining PAA, she worked as the Director of Development at Summit County Community Partnership and served on the SPCA Advisory Council. She is also an active member of the Portage County Substance Abuse Community Coalition’s Prevention Committee.
Alyce is an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Malone University and a Master of Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University.
In her spare time, Alyce enjoys playing piano, reading books and spending time with her husband and four children.
Julianna (she/her) serves as the community prevention manager overseeing the agency’s youth and young adult services which include the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network, the Ohio College Initiative, and all school-based services. Her professional background spans 20 years working in Ohio’s behavioral health field in a variety of capacities including working with families in the Head Start program, supporting youth leadership development and youth-led programming, serving as a mental health ombudsman, and leading youth mentoring programs. Before coming to PAA, Julianna served as a community outreach coordinator for an addiction services agency in northeast Ohio.
Working with youth and young adults has been Julianna’s greatest passion professionally. She has been involved with the Ohio Adult Ally’s network since 2014 and has collaborated with other adult allies in the development of resources that inform and elevate youth-led prevention science throughout the state of Ohio. She is a published author on topics pertaining to youth and youth-led prevention and is the founder of the Ohio Adult Ally Northeast Region Learning Collaborative.
Julianna currently serves as co-chair for The HEALing Communities sub-committee for Cuyahoga County and is a member of the northeast Ohio hub for the Mental Health and Addiction Advocacy Coalition.
Julianna is a certified prevention specialist (OCPS) and a trainer for both the Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training (SAPST) and DEA 60 Community Drug Prevention process.
Outside of her professional role, Julianna spends time with her large, blended family of eight kids and two dogs. She also enjoys traveling and volunteering with a community outreach agency serving the homeless in Cuyahoga County.
Amy (she/her) is the Community Prevention Manager, overseeing the agency’s community prevention services, including the Statewide Prevention Coalition Association (SPCA) and the Ohio Coalitions Institute. With over a decade of experience in community outreach and research, Amy is dedicated to using data-driven approaches to enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.
Amy’s passion for public health was sparked in 2015 during her tenure as director of a Drug-Free Communities coalition with the North Royalton City School District. She went on to serve as a Community Data Coordinator for the HEALing Communities Study at The Ohio State University and later as the Public Health Coordinator and Harm Reduction Lead at the Summit County Public Health Department before joining PAA.
Amy has held the role of co-chair of the North Royalton YMCA Advisory Board for over five years and secretary of Project White Butterfly, a Substance Use Disorder outreach and recovery organization, for two years. She has also taken on various leadership roles within the North Royalton City Schools, including five years as PTA president and more than six years as a volleyball coach. Demonstrating her ongoing commitment to community leadership, Amy is a sworn member of the Civil Service Commission for the City of North Royalton and an active member of both the Ohio Public Health Association and the American Public Health Association.
A believer in the power of personal connection as a basic human need, Amy earned her bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication and uses her conversational skills to build meaningful relationships with organizations and nonprofits. In 2023, she furthered her public health career by obtaining her Master of Public Health (MPH) from Ohio State University.
Amy resides in North Royalton with her husband and two children. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball with friends and sharing her love of photography through her own small business.
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Sophie (she/hers) joined Prevention Action Alliance as a Communications Assistant in 2023 and was promoted to Communications Coordinator in 2025. In her role, Sophie manages the social media accounts of Prevention Action Alliance and the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network. She works to ensure brand consistency across all communications and supports the efforts of the staff and programs of Prevention Action Alliance.
Prior to joining PAA, she attended Ohio University, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Throughout her college career and for a short time afterward, she worked as a Marketing Coordinator and as a Graphic Designer for multiple treasured Columbus, Ohio brands. She has been working as a commission artist and designer since she was 17 years old and continues to accept commission work in her free time.
Outside of her professional role, Sophie enjoys traveling, creating art, and spending as much time as possible with her family, friends, and many pets.
PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY COORDINATOR
MARGARET “MAGGIE” LUTTERUS
Maggie Lutterus (she/hers) joined Prevention Action Alliance (PAA) in 2023 as the Advocacy and Public Policy Coordinator. Maggie received her bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University with a psychology major and political science minor.
Her passion for mental health and addiction initiatives started during an internship with the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Clark-Greene-Madison County. She then went on to be a case manager at a community psychiatric facility in Columbus, Ohio. With this role, she found a passion for advocacy and policy change. This led her to spend four years in the Ohio General Assembly as a legislative aide in the Ohio House of Representatives and a senior legislative aide in the Ohio Senate.
She formerly was the Program Director of the Pickaway Addiction Action Coalition (PAAC), a role she began at the start of 2022 and was tasked with the implementation of the Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant.
Sondra (she/her) joined Prevention Action Alliance in 2019 and serves as the agency’s accountant and human resources coordinator. In her role, Sondra manages all aspects of accounting, including financials, accounts receivable and payable, and internal audit. She also provides general budget oversight across all agency networks, programs, and events. Additionally, Sondra leads the agency’s human resource management efforts, including new staff orientation, insurance, payroll, and information technology.
Sondra has over 20 years of administrative experience, having held positions in higher education, corporate America, and the service industry. Before joining PAA, Sondra was the accountant for a multi-site car dealership.
Sondra has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in accounting from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
In her spare time, Sondra enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, traveling, and hanging out with her cats.
Francesca (Fran) Varga (she/her) joined Prevention Action Alliance in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Prevention Coordinator on the Community Prevention Strategies team. In her role, Fran leads the development of the Know! Prevention Tips series, coordinates the Statewide Prevention Coalition Association (SPCA), and supports a variety of community- and coalition-based prevention initiatives.
Fran is an Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant and earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from The Ohio State University in 2022. During her undergraduate studies, she interned with PreventionFIRST! in Cincinnati and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Washington, D.C. She also contributed to academic research exploring generational perspectives on HIV/AIDS within LGBTQ+ communities.
Driven by a passion for advancing community health, addressing health inequities, and fostering connection, Fran brings empathy and data-driven insight to all her prevention work.
Fran currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, Fran enjoys creating art, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and spending time with her three cats.
