Atlanta, Georgia, United States, October 2025 – Key Autism Services, a leading provider of behavioral health and autism therapy programs across the United States, has announced the appointment of Amy Chestnut as Director of Human Resources. In this role, Amy will oversee all aspects of HR strategy and operations, including recruitment, talent development, performance management, employee engagement, and compliance across Key’s multi-state operations.
Amy Chestnut brings more than 20 years of experience in human resources leadership, having successfully built and scaled HR functions across healthcare, research, and engineering organizations.
Before joining Key Autism Services, Amy served as Vice President of Human Resources at Rare Disease Research, LLC, Gooseberry Research, Davesa Health, and Phan Institute of Clinical Research, where she was instrumental in building the HR function from the ground up. She developed policies, benefits structures, and employee programs across four companies, negotiating key vendor partnerships that reduced costs while improving employee experience. Under her leadership, the organizations experienced rapid growth—tripling team size with minimal external spend—while maintaining compliance, engagement, and operational efficiency.
Prior to that, she was Director of Human Resources at Cal Engineering Solutions, where she established the HR department for a multi-location, multi-state business. Amy implemented new HR systems such as BambooHR, revamped talent acquisition and onboarding processes, and achieved cost savings across payroll, recruitment, and benefits administration. Her policy development expertise ensured compliance with California labor laws, while her initiatives in performance management and training strengthened organizational culture and leadership capability.
Earlier in her career, Amy held progressive leadership roles at St. John Health, Oakwood Healthcare System, and Crowley, Milner & Company, where she led HR operations for large hospital systems and corporate entities, managing workforce transitions, collective bargaining, compliance initiatives, and leadership development programs. Her early experience shaped her strategic HR vision and ability to integrate people practices with business transformation.
Beyond her corporate experience, Amy has contributed extensively to community development. She has served on the Executive Board of the Collierville Soccer Association/Lobos Rush and as a Board Member and President at Novi Co-op Preschool, where she led strategic planning, fundraising, and organizational restructuring initiatives.
About Key Autism Services
Founded in 2014, Key Autism Services (Key) provides behavioral and therapeutic support to children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related conditions across multiple U.S. states, including Massachusetts, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Alabama, Missouri, Virginia, and Tennessee. The organization partners closely with families, clinicians, and case managers to deliver personalized treatment programs grounded in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
At Key, family engagement is central to therapy design—reflecting the belief that development flourishes through strong, consistent, and playful family interactions. The organization’s mission is to empower individuals and families toward greater self-sufficiency, independence, and improved quality of life through compassionate, evidence-based care.
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