Best known as an award-winning company culture whisperer and strategy guru, Sentari Minor has spent more than a decade cultivating new businesses, building brands, and advancing people and ideas at several category-leading enterprises in the Southwest. Prior to evolvedMD, he worked with some of the nation’s most prominent and curious chief executive officers and entrepreneurs advising on philanthropy, policy and social good.
Scottsdale-based evolvedMD is spearheading the integration of behavioral health services in modern primary care. The firm places behavioral health managers on-site and in-person to treat the whole person – mind and body. In 2023, evolvedMD touched the lives of nearly 21,000 patients and their families who either did not have access to affordable mental health care or felt discouraged from seeking help due to the stigma surrounding mental health.
At evolvedMD, Minor’s vision and leadership have played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s trajectory. He built out the firm’s first strategic plan and hand-selected the company’s first full executive team alongside chief executive officers. As a result, evolvedMD was named to Inc. 5000 twice with 258% growth year over year. The company was also recognized as one of AZ Big Media’s 50 companies to watch in 2024.
Minor was one of the company’s first 10 employees and has been instrumental in putting evolvedMD’s vision into action, transitioning providers into fully integrated collaborative care partners who bring holistic, whole-person care to patients in all walks of life. He also oversaw a two-year pilot program that helps providers address social determinants of health, behavioral health stigmas and bias and the transformation of one of the fastest-growing segments of the healthcare continuum.
Noting that his most important risk was to become the first non-clinical executive of evolvedMD, Minor said joining a startup with no prior healthcare experience is something no one has ever done before. “It was a humbling and challenging experience that I wouldn’t change for anything,” he said. “Taking the risk ultimately shaped my career in a profound way.”
Throughout his career, Minor has been an influencer in a variety of industries, has written numerous Forbes Jobs articles, and was named a 40 Under 40 executive by the Phoenix Journal.
If he could provide his younger self with advice, it would be to cultivate patience and kindness, recognizing that personal and organizational growth takes time. “Emphasize the importance of not taking things too seriously and instead, focus on understanding and influencing the pace of progress,” said Minor.
