Amy Edgar, APRN, CRNP, FNP-C | Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner
Meet Our Chief Clinical Officer and Champion for Child Well-Being
Blackbird Health’s groundbreaking approach was pioneered by Amy Edgar, an innovative nurse practitioner working to change mental health for kids from the inside out so the next generation can spread their wings and soar. She founded the Children’s Integrated Center for Success (CICS) in 2014 and has dedicated her career to helping every kid be the best version of themselves and the hero of their own story. In 2021, Amy co-founded Blackbird Health with child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Matt Keener. She was named one of the 10 most influential women entrepreneurs in the healthcare ecosystem by Healthcare Insights in 2023.
Amy has been in practice for more than 25 years and holds a bachelor of science in nursing from DeSales University and a master of science in nursing, child and family mental health from the University of Pennsylvania. She is board certified in family practice and holds a post master’s family nurse practitioner certification in family primary care from DeSales University.
Matt Keener, MD | Dual Certification in Adult and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Meet Our Co-Founder and Medical Director
Dr. Matt Keener is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist whose career path was inspired by his experience receiving treatment for depression as an adolescent. Later, as a researcher and a physician, he observed that neuroscience research insights were not being deployed into new treatment advances quickly enough, and he co-founded Blackbird Health to achieve better mental health outcomes, faster, for kids and young adults.
Dr. Keener holds a B.A. in neurobiology from Temple University and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he was chief resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and chair of the child and adolescent psychiatry research track. Following an NIH Fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry research, Dr. Keener co-founded an emotional analytics company and served as the first psychiatrist and Director of Emotional Health for Doctor On Demand. He has published numerous scientific papers and currently serves on the Ethics Committee for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
“Every child deserves our best and a future. All of them. Every single one.”
Amy Edgar, Blackbird Health Chief Clinical Officer
How would you describe your approach?
MATT: We work hard to be collaborative, authentic, and transparent, and to inspire trust and respect in every patient and family interaction. We see every kid for the person they are, not their diagnosis.
What inspired you to co-found Blackbird Health?
AMY: As a mother of a daughter with autism, I want to provide the type of care for families I wish I had for mine. When we saw the model in action and realized the impact we were having, it inspired us to keep going. It was hard at times, but it was worthy of sacrifice.
MATT: Amy and I have a shared passion for innovation and iteration. We want to help as many kids as possible through a scalable, evidence-based clinical model. We’re never going to stop asking, how do we do better?
What’s unique about Blackbird Health?
AMY: We collect and use data that tells us how a child’s brain works to find the right interventions to help every kid be successful. And we don’t stop until they have achieved the level of success in their life that they want. Every child deserves our best and a future. All of them. Every single one.
How does Blackbird Health approach virtual care?
MATT: We are working every day to create a virtual environment with our kids and families that has the same feel as an experience in the office. To us, that’s the game changer. Getting that right will allow us to bring this model of care to every kid who needs it, no matter where they are. This is about kids, all of them.
What do you like to do outside of work?
AMY: I love spending time with our horse, Whinny, who used to race on the tracks, and our two dogs—Mazy, who is 107 in dog years, and Rosie, who was a rescue from Georgia.
MATT: When I’m not helping kids I enjoy adventure sports like surfing and mountain biking. I have two rescue dogs, and one of them sometimes hops like a kangaroo!
“We’re never going to stop asking, how do we do better?”
Dr. Matt Keener, Blackbird Health Psychiatrist and Medical Director
Meet the Blackbird Health Team
Our clinical team delivers exceptional virtual and in-person care to support a wide range of treatment needs across individual clients, parents, and families. Our integrated practice includes skilled psychiatrists, therapists, counselors, and coaches, and we match you with the right specialists to help you get the outcomes you’re looking for, faster.
Our providers are experts in behavioral needs, mood disorders, failure to launch, screen and video game addiction, family issues, life transitions, executive functioning, grief and loss, academic and medical advocacy, learning differences, speech and language differences, sensory and motor differences, addiction, gender dysphoria, trauma, eating disorders, and other mental health challenges.
Join Our Team
At Blackbird Health, you have the opportunity to make a real difference. Together, we can help more kids and young adults spread their wings and soar!