Board of Directors

Charles Sykes

Charles Sykes, Board Chairman, is responsible for managing the Board of Directors, providing leadership to the executive staff, and the liaison to the management company. As a founding member of Progressive Healthcare Providers, he has held this position since 1990. During his tenure he has overseen program development, purchases, and sales.

Previously he has held positions in hospital management, hospital development and consulting. Mr. Sykes earned Bachelor of Arts from Emory University, Master of Health Administration and Master of Science in Marketing from Georgia State University.

Sara A. Case

Sara has been working in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) since 1983. After receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University, she worked in Intermediate Care Facilities (ICFs) supporting individuals living with IDD in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. In the late 1990s, Sara continued her clinical career in community-based IDD Programs, including owning/managing her own case management company and serving as the State of Georgia’s Assistant Director in the Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Sara works closely with IDD-affiliated organizations including SPADD (Service Provider Association for Developmental Disabilities) where she is the Secretary of the Executive Board and CARF International (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) where she is a surveyor. As a CARF surveyor, Sara uses her 40 years of experience in the field of IDD to conduct peer reviews of IDD organizations in North America. In her capacity, she learns and promotes best and promising practices in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Sara has served on the Progressive Healthcare Providers’ Board of Directors since 2000.

Barbara Jean McDaniel Ray, Ph.D.

As a founding member of Progressive Healthcare Providers, Barbara has been involved with the organization since 1990. She serves as the Board Vice President and Corporate Secretary. Barbara brings her talents to the organizational areas of corporate compliance, electronic communication, nonprofit management, public-private partnership development, urban policy analysis, residential quality of life issues and urban transportation. Barbara is the informal historian of the organization.

Barbara has earned the following degrees (all while raising 4 boys): B.S. in 1970 Urban Life (Human Resources) Georgia State College; M.S. in 1972 Urban Studies (Human Resources) Georgia State University; Ph.D. in 1980, Sociology (Demography and Complex Organization), Emory University. She has been retired since 1999 and is an Emeritus Associate Professor of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.

Barbara has served on the Progressive Healthcare Providers’ Board of Directors since 1990.

Dan Langford

Dan Langford is a financial professional, holding an active CPA license, who has served full-time as primary finance officer in the not-for-profit arena for nearly two decades. Recently sworn in for his fourth term as mayor of Brooks, Georgia, Dan also has extensive civic experience, having served as a town council member from 1998 until becoming mayor in 2010. Additionally, he serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the Coweta-Fayette Electric Membership Cooperative, is a board member of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and is a 1999 graduate of Leadership Fayette. Dan also manages the timber interests, including a trust, on his family’s farm.

Dan earned his BBA (1985) and MAcc (1986) from the University of Georgia.

Dan has served on the Progressive Healthcare Providers’ Board of Directors since 2010 and as the organization’s Treasurer since 2011.

Heather Looby, Esq., CHC, CCEP

Heather Looby is a healthcare attorney. Her areas of legal focus include HIPAA, privacy, data sharing, risk management, business associate agreements, peer review, quality improvement and compliance. In addition to practicing law, she has prior experience working for behavioral health and developmental disabilities agencies in both investigations and compliance roles.

Heather earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Georgia State University and her Juris Doctor from the Valparaiso University School of Law. She holds a Certification in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) from the Health Care Compliance Association and is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP).

Heather has served on the Progressive Healthcare Providers’ Board of Directors since 2023.