Barbara Cicatelli is the Founder and CEO of CAI. She started the organization in 1979, with a vision to give agencies that serve marginalized communities the best possible on-the-job education, training, and technical assistance. To pursue this mission, she built a team of high-caliber educators, trainers, and facilitators who bring a combination of academic expertise and real-life experience. Today, CAI provides capacity-building services to more than 20,000 professionals every year to help them deliver high-quality health care and social services to millions of people.

Cicatelli leads CAI’s program strategies, operations, and culture. She has expanded the organization’s scope to focus on the most pressing issues facing communities, including HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, adolescent health, substance use, mental health, women’s and maternal health, tobacco use, and more. She has also expanded the strategic expertise that the organization brings to health care providers, government agencies, community-based organizations, and others. CAI’s services now include training, technical assistance, research and evaluation, curriculum development, authentic community engagement, and more. As she expanded the organization from a staff of four to a team of 150 people, Cicatelli assembled a senior team that has led the organization for decades and together developed a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion and values the full experience staff at all levels bring.