Executive Team

LifePortal, Inc. is a California based consulting organization that specializes in the application of new technology to human and social services. Our founding partners have extensive experienced as executives and senior managers in organizations providing healthcare, behavioral health, social services, educational and information technology services.

President and Co-Founder
David A. Young, PhD, MPH,

David brings over 20 years executive leadership experience in the health and human services field. In his roles as a health care consultant to medical groups, hospitals, health care systems, insurance companies, David has been a pioneer in the effort to leverage innovative technologies for human service applications.

Prior to LifePortal, David served as the Administrator for STARS Community Services a community based organization in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, providing services to children, families and transitional age youth struggling with serious mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness. Before STARS, he served as Executive Director of Asian Community Mental Health Services a non-profit mental health agency serving the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. He also held the position of Associate Vice President of Clinical Operations for Pathmakers, a multi-state private sector behavioral healthcare organization that covered over 1 million lives throughout California and Colorado, and the Director of Interactive Services for a pre-launch internet company (which later became PsychologyToday.com), where he contributed to the design of an online mental health provider directory. In 1986, David founded Health Psychology Associates, a mid-sized behavioral group practice that continues to serve communities in Orange County, California.

David has held academic appointments as Associate Professor in the Health Psychology Proficiency at the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, adjunct faculty at California State University, Fullerton, and Special Scientific Associate training medical residents at Boston University Medical School/Boston City Hospital. He earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles and an MPH emphasizing Healthcare Administration from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Senior Vice President and co-Founder
Lisa Smusz, MS,

Lisa holds a Master's degree in Counseling and brings over fifteen years of experience in business management, workforce development, education, and technology consulting. Raised in a rural California community and having witnessed the struggles of individuals living with severe disabilities in her immediate family, her career has focused on increasing access to services and opportunities for underserved populations.

Prior to co-founding LifePortal, Ms. Smusz was employed at California State University, East Bay where she was selected to create and oversee a new wellness program for Workability IV, and helped to establish Project Impact, a wrap-around service program for at-risk students (funded by the US Department of Education). Today she continues to work as an instructor and consultant at the university, teaching on-line courses and advising faculty and staff in the effective and accessible use of technology.  Before Cal State East Bay, she was the owner/operator of a web-development and consulting company for over five years. Smusz & Associates Consulting Services and its partner company GetYourOwn.net, specialize in providing innovative technological solutions to improve the delivery of mental health services and workforce development. Clients included the Culture-to-Culture Foundation, the Institute for Mental Health and Wellness Education, and the Mental Health Workforce Education Collaborative. Ms. Smusz has also held the position of Assistant Program Supervisor at Transitions Mental Health Association, the largest social rehabilitation program in San Luis Obispo County, providing living skills training, workforce development, and social rehabilitation services to adults with sever psychiatric disabilities.

Ms. Smusz holds a Bachelors of Science in Bio-Psychology from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and a Masters of Science in Educational Psychology from California State University, Hayward.