About Us

Dr. Amy Nitza is the co-founder of Convergence Group LLC.

She is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at the State University of New York at New Paltz.  She is a psychologist with 20+ years experience providing mental health training in academic and non-academic settings both nationally and internationally. Domestically, she has developed and facilitated trainings for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Smithsonian Institution, and various state agencies in New York, Maine, South Dakota, and North Dakota, and numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. 

Internationally, she was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Botswana, where she developed group interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents.  In Haiti, she has collaborated with the University of Notre Dame to develop trauma-related interventions for children in domestic servitude, and to provide training for teachers in dealing with traumatized children in the classroom.  She is also currently collaborating with UNICEF USA to develop and implement a program of mental health support for children impacted by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.  In Bhutan, she worked as a psychologist providing direct service, training, and consultation at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital. Most recently, she is collaborating with partners in Ukraine to implement mental health support programs for those impacted by the ongoing war.

Amy is the author and editor of numerous publications, including the recent book Disaster

Mental Health Case Studies: Lessons Learned from Counseling in Chaos.  She is a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work and is currently President of the Society for Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy (Division 49) of the American Psychological Association.  She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University.  She formerly served as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Professional Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

  We seek to promote:

• Mental health education and support for the first responder community
• Workforce resilience in businesses, non-profits and other organizations
• Best practices in the support and treatment of those impacted by trauma as victims and their responders
• Effective incorporation of mental health into all phases of emergency management
• Best practices in emergency management and response

We have a proven track record of working with culturally diverse populations in small and large business (both domestically and internationally), federal, state, and local governments, non-profit and community groups, and many others.

Nikhil Natarajan is the co-founder of Convergence Group LLC.

His 30+ year career includes over 10 in public safety, where he served as a paramedic, paramedic supervisor, communications supervisor, and educator. He spent over 10 years in the volunteer fire service serving with various departments. It also includes over 10 years as an educator within EMS including time as a tenure-track faculty member of SUNY Ulster's Paramedic Program. In that role he also assisted with the development of an Emergency Management degree which included the development and delivery of numerous EM courses.

Nikhil spent 10 years with the New York State Department of Health where he started as the State Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator and ended his tenure as Deputy Director with the Office of Health Emergency Preparedness where he oversaw the Public Health Preparedness Program and the Healthcare Preparedness Program. He was integral to the creation of a multi-agency Healthcare Facility Evacuation Center, statewide patient tracking system, and many other projects. He also responded to a variety of human-caused disasters and disease outbreaks including leading the Healthcare Facility Evacuation Center during Hurricane Sandy.

He most recently served as the Deputy Director for the New York State Office of Emergency Management where he oversaw programs such as the Planning Section, Training and Exercise, Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, and Field Operations. While overseeing Field Operations, he served in a variety of Command level positions for small and large multi-agency emergencies from both the State EOC as well as on-scene Command Posts. During COVID, he developed and led the State's Mortuary Affairs Task Force and has served as the State lead for emergency repatriation missions, and many other special projects. He also has extensive experience working with various branches of the military (Title 10 and Title 32) in planning and response operations.

He has spoken nationally on a variety of emergency management and public health topics and is a sought after subject matter expert in his field.

He has a Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration from SUNY Empire State College and has attended the National Preparedness Leadership Institute sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.