2008 Summit

Laurie Alexander, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and program officer for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, an administrative unit of The University of Texas at Austin. The foundation works to promote improved mental health for the people of Texas through public education projects, policy analysis, and grantmaking in strategically selected areas. Alexander is the project leader for the foundation’s Integrated Health Care Initiative, a multi-year grant program and policy project designed to improve the detection and treatment of mental health problems in primary care settings. She earned a BA in psychology and Italian from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After completing postdoctoral fellowships in traumatic stress at Cornell Weill Medical College and in public health at Columbia University, she received a MA in journalism from UT-Austin. She worked as a policy analyst for Mental Health America of Texas prior to joining the foundation in 2004. Dr. Alexander is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA).

Johnny W. Allem, President and CEO of the Johnson Institute, is a veteran organizer and advocate for the addiction recovery community. As an author, speaker, and organizer, he has helped focus attention on message content and construction as the field attempts to change America’s attitudes and responses to addiction disease. Throughout his 25 years in recovery, Allem has worked to advance solutions to America’s addiction epidemic. He worked with the late Senator Harold Hughes as executive director of the Society of Americans for Recovery; served on the Planning Committee for the 2001 Summit that organized Faces and Voices of Recovery; organized recovery clubs within the District of Columbia, and serves as a trustee of Stepping Stones Foundation, responsible for the home and archive legacy of Bill and Lois Wilson. As a District of Columbia official from 1995 – 2002, he authorized the first elementary school program to offer professional mental health counseling to students and pioneered the District’s first training and program to address individuals with co-occurring addiction and mental illness. Allem graduated from Rhea Central High in Dayton, TN in 1955 and attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He received his MA in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC in 1999. Allem is a member of ACMHA.

Deborah Altschul, PhD, is a psychologist and faculty member at the University of New Mexico Department Of Psychiatry’s Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health. Prior to working in New Mexico, Dr. Altschul worked at the University of Hawaii Department of Psychology’s Mental Health Services Research, Evaluation, and Training Program were she was the head of the Consumer Assessment Team; a research team aimed at involving individuals with serious mental illnesses in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and report writing. In addition, Dr. Altschul was the Cultural Competency Specialist on two federally-funded grants focusing on the implementation of EBPs and the statewide infrastructure development of Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment services. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors based on developing strategies to improve racial and ethnic disparities in mental health services. Dr. Altschul currently serves as a cultural competency consultant to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative and is actively involved in working with state agencies and local communities to develop sustainable infrastructures that support the improvement of cultural competency in public mental health systems. She is completed her doctoral studies at the University of Georgia and her postdoctoral internship at the University of Florida. Dr. Altschul is a member of ACMHA.

Laudan (Laudy) Aron recently joined NAMI’s national office as the Director of Policy Research. Prior to NAMI, Ms. Aron was a Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. She has over 20 years of professional experience conducting policy research and analysis on a wide variety of social welfare issues, including behavioral health and disability, child welfare and at-risk youth, education, employment and training, and homelessness and family violence. Her work has involved conceptualizing, implementing, and disseminating both qualitative and quantitative research that is designed to be of greatest use to policymakers, program officials, and other interested stakeholders. Drawing on a wide range of research methods, she has conducted national program evaluations, survey designs, data analyses, and reviews of the literature for many federal agencies and foundations, including the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development. Aron has co-authored three books and written book chapters, journal articles, and reports on many topics. Her recent work includes a study of how advances in neuroscience will affect community-based non-profit behavioral healthcare providers (for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), the social services needs of victims of human trafficking (for the National Institute of Justice), and an evaluation of the homeless service system in Santa Monica, California (for the City of Santa Monica). At NAMI, she is currently overseeing the 2008 edition of NAMI’s Grading the States, a state-by-state assessment of the public mental health service system. Ms. Aron is a member of ACMHA.

Glenda Barrett serves as the Key Leadership Institute Coordinator for the Oklahoma Mental Health Consumer Council Her duties include implementing the Consumer Networking Grant funded by SAMHSA, coordinating the Council’s Statewide Mental Health Consumer Conference, coordinating the Council’s major annual fundraising activity, coordinating the Council’s annual “Mental Health Day at the Capitol,” and providing peer support and technical assistance to consumers, family members, and other stakeholders. Barrett has a BS in Secondary Education and is a Credentialed Recovery Support Specialist as certified through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She is a 2007 graduate of the SAMHSA Leadership Institute. Ms. Barrett has more than 25 years experience in education and has served as Director of Multicultural Equity Programs for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She has been a mental health advocate for more than ten years and has worked with the Council since 2005. Glenda currently serves on the ODMHSAS Mental Health Planning Advisory Board, Recovery Support Specialist Advisory Board, and is a member of the Consumer Involvement Study Group of the Governor’s Transformation Advisory Board.

Gary M. Blau, PhD is a clinical psychologist and the Chief of the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). He is responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Program, the Circles of Care Program, the Statewide Family Network Program, the National Children’s Mental Health Social Marketing Campaign, several National Technical Assistance Programs for children’s mental health, and a wide variety of other programs designed to improve the lives of children and families. Through the Director of CMHS and the SAMHSA Administrator, he is also responsible for translating the President’s New Freedom Commission Report for children and families, and for implementing the children’s portion of the CMHS Action Plan. Prior to this, Dr. Blau was the Bureau Chief of Quality Management and Director of Mental Health at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and the Director of Clinical Services at the Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut. Blau is a former member of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Director’s Division of Children, Youth and Families, and from 1998 – 2000 was the division’s chairperson. He has received several awards including the prestigious Pro Humanitate Literary Award for literary works which best exemplify the intellectual integrity and moral courage required to transcend political and social barriers to promote best practice in the field of child welfare, the Governor’s Service Award, the Phoebe Bennet Award for outstanding contribution to children’s mental health in Connecticut, and the Making a Difference Award presented by Connecticut’s Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. He has numerous publications and has been the editor of several books. Blau received his PhD from Auburn University (AL) in 1988 and holds a clinical faculty appointment at the Yale Child Study Center.

Victor Capoccia, PhD, is senior scientist at University of Wisconsin where he conducts research and support for the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx). He is also program director of the Open Society Institute’s national initiative to close the addiction treatment gap. Previously he led the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Addiction Prevention and Treatment team and also worked on the Human Capital and Quality teams. For 10 years Capoccia was the President and CEO of CAB Health and Recovery Services, Inc., a community based provider in the alcohol and drug addiction field. He was an invited member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Community Based Drug Treatment and Chairman of CSAT’s National Treatment Plan work group on Improving Treatment Systems. Earlier, Dr Capoccia was director of Community Health Services for the City of Boston, Department of Health and Hospitals. There, he conducted the feasibility study of the Neighborhood Health Plan, Inc., and directed the city health department expansion of prenatal outreach, emergency medical services, HIV prevention, and substance abuse treatment efforts. Dr. Capoccia served on the faculty of Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, publishing and teaching in the areas of community planning. During this period, he wrote “Your Health,” a Boston Herald weekly column that helped consumers understand the health care system and also was the Chairman of the Board of the Greater Boston Health Systems Agency. Dr Capoccia served on the boards of United Ways and other philanthropic organizations. He was invited by the British National Health Service Modernisation Agency to join in their work to develop guidance on sustaining change and assists a United Nations work group expand quality treatment in developing nations through “Treatnet.” He holds a BA and MSW in Community Organization from Boston College, an MA in Urban and regional Planning from the University of Iowa, and a PhD. in Health Policy from Brandeis University’s Heller Graduate School.

Terry Cline, PhD, is the Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline reports to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt and leads the $3.3 billion agency responsible for improving the accountability, capacity, and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems. Throughout his career Dr. Cline has worked to ensure individual and family needs are the driving force for the prevention, treatment and recovery support services delivered. Prior to his appointment as SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline worked as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health. At the same time, he served as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. During his tenure in Oklahoma, Dr. Cline built strong collaborative relationships among multiple constituency groups and government agencies. Dr. Cline has extensive experience in overseeing health and human services at the state level. He has also served as a provider through an earlier post as the clinical director of the Cambridge Youth Guidance Center in Cambridge, MA, and as a staff psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. His professional history also includes a six year appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, MA. A native of Ardmore, OK, Dr. Cline attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1980. He then received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Cline has involved himself in community service, including membership on a number of local, state, and national committees and boards with a focus on improving the overall health of the community and the nation.

Tom Coderre joined Faces & Voices of Recovery as National Field Director in 2006 to continue to help build grass roots recovery advocacy campaigns around the country. Coderre has an extensive background in government and politics, serving in the Rhode Island State Senate from 1995-2003. He also spent many years in non-profit management and development as a professional fundraiser and executive director. Mr. Coderre is a person in long-term recovery, which means he hasn’t used drugs or alcohol since May of 2003. He first became active in recovery advocacy as a board member of Rhode Island CAREs (Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts) and served as chairman of their advocacy committee. Mr. Coderre continues to live in Rhode Island and travels extensively promoting Faces & Voices of Recovery advocacy efforts.

Lei Ellingson, MS, joined The Carter Center Mental Health Program as Assistant Director in May 1998. Early in her career, Ms. Ellingson worked in the field of special education, specializing in adolescents with serious emotional disturbance and learning disabilities. From there, she worked as a private consultant on public policy issues with an emphasis on children’s issues, including such topics as school tobacco policies. Before joining The Carter Center, Ms. Ellingson worked for the Georgia State Legislature’s Budgetary and Reconciliation Oversight Committee where she conducted program and policy evaluations of child-serving agencies. As Assistant Director for The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, Ms. Ellingson’s duties have included planning and implementing a series of national policy discussions in collaboration with the US Surgeon General and a broad array of other stakeholders on mental health issues. She also has provided leadership for the program’s highly successful Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. Ms. Ellingson earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Terry Sanford Institute at Duke University, a Master’s of Science degree in Special Education from The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College. Ms. Ellingson is a member of ACMHA.

William Emmet is Director of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform,responsible for coordinating the efforts of 17 national organizations to make effective mental health services a national priority. Formed to seize opportunities resulting from the 2003 report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the Campaign is the mental health advocacy community’s united voice on federal policy issues. Mr. Emmetserved for seven years as Project Director for policy analysis and technical assistance at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), working with partners in the mental health community to provide technical assistance in policy formulation and implementation to multiple mental health stakeholders at the state level. Before joining NASMHPD, Mr. Emmet worked at the state and national levels of NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill). For eight years, he was Executive Director of NAMI’s state organization in Rhode Island. He served as a member of NAMI’s national Board of Directors and, from 1998 – 2000, was Chief Operating Officer/ Deputy Executive Director of NAMI’s national office. Mr. Emmet became active in mental illness advocacy when his brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1980s. He is a member of ACMHA.

Peter Fenn is the president of Fenn Communications Group, one of the nation’s premier political and public affairs media firms. It has worked on over 300 campaigns, from presidential to mayoral, elected more members of the House of Representatives than any other firm and represented a host of Fortune 500 companies. Prior to forming the firm, Mr. Fenn was the first executive director of Democrats for the 80s, a political action committee founded by Pamela Harriman and then-Gov. Bill Clinton. Mr. Fenn also served on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and as Washington chief of staff for Sen. Frank Church. In 1983, Mr. Fenn founded and was the first executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. Mr. Fenn has consulted overseas for the Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy. He produced television programs in Russia, Bosnia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic and consulted for political parties and candidates in such countries as South Africa, Mozambique, Romania, Latvia, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Hungary. His writing and producing have earned him Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants, Telly Awards, Summit Awards, Vision Awards and the award from PRNews for the Best Public Service Ad Campaign of 2005. Mr. Fenn has a BA from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. He earned an MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California. He teaches Presidential Politics, Strategy and Message as well as Campaign Advertising at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. Mr. Fenn appears frequently as a TV commentator on the major networks and cable news shows.

Deborah Fickling is the Behavioral Health Ombudsperson for the State of New Mexico Medicaid program and other New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative member agencies. In this position, her “lived experience” as a person in long-term recovery from addiction and mental illness informs her passionate advocacy for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues who are asking for help, seeking resolution to a problem, or just wanting to know that someone cares. Ms. Fickling is a member of the American College of Mental Health Administration Board of Directors and Chair of the Membership Committee.

Larry A. Green, MD is Senior Scholar in Residence at The Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in Washington, DC. He completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Rochester and Highland Hospital and entered practice in Arkansas in the National Health Services Corps, after which he joined the faculty at the University of Colorado. Dr. Green was the Woodward-Chisholm Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado for 14 years and he continues to serve on the faculty of the university where he is Professor of Family Medicine and Director of the National Program Office for Prescription for Health. Prescription for Health is a five-year practice-based research initiative launched in 2002 that is focused on health behavior change, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Much of his career has been focused on developing practice-based, primary care research networks, including the Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network (ASPN). Dr. Green practices as a certified Diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the World Organization of Family Doctors, and the North America Primary Care Research Group. Green received his BA from the University of Oklahoma and his MD from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Eric Goplerud, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and research professor of health policy at the George Washington University Medical Center. Since 2002, Dr. Goplerud has directed Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a research program at GWU. He is president of the American College of Mental Health Administration (ACMHA). Previously, Dr. Goplerud was associate administrator for policy and planning at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). He also has held senior policy and research positions at the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Division of Demand Reduction, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President. Goplerud directs policy and research at GWU focused on improving access to effective and affordable alcohol screening and treatment, integration of primary health and behavioral health care services, performance measurement in managed behavioral health and public/private quality improvement initiatives in behavioral health care. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has received many awards and honors, including the DHHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for individual service and the DHHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for group services. He also received the Walter Barton Distinguished Fellow Award from ACMHA. He has been a member of the Behavioral Measures Advisory Group of the National Committee for Quality Assurance for 10 years. Dr. Goplerud earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a doctorate in clinical/community psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Viking Hedberg, MD, is a rural pediatrician who practices in a three physician, two nurse practitioner site of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic located in Plymouth, NH. This practice is the only pediatric practice for approximately an hour’s drive in any direction and provides the pediatric care at the local community hospital, school health services at the Holderness Prep School in area public schools, as well as the medical services at the Student Health Center at Plymouth State University. Dr. Hedberg is also trained in adolescent medicine and provides psychopharmacologic care for Plymouth State University students in collaboration with the University Counseling Center. He recently established the Center for Adolescent Health in Plymouth, a collaborative, interdisciplinary specialty adolescent health diagnostic and referral clinic. Dr. Hedberg is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and is working with his pediatric and psychiatry colleagues at Dartmouth to develop an integrated pediatric/psychiatry adolescent program to meet both the clinical needs in the Upper Valley area of New Hampshire as well as to provide a training opportunity for both pediatric and psychiatry residents in integrated adolescent health care. Hedberg was an undergraduate at Yale University and attended medical school at Columbia University. He did residency training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. After three years at a Community Health Center in Camden, NJ, he completed a fellowship in adolescent medicine at the University of Rochester, where he also earned the Masters of Public Health.

Renata J. Henry is the director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, an operating division of Delaware Health and Social Services. As director, Ms. Henry is responsible for the administrative direction and oversight of public sector behavioral health services for adults in Delaware. Ms. Henry has over 30 years of experience in the behavioral health field, serving in various clinical and administrative positions in community-based mental health and substance abuse organizations, as well as in state and county government. Prior to becoming the division director, she was the director of Substance Abuse Services for Delaware. During her tenure as director she has emphasized collaboration between systems to ensure that policy and practice are aligned to support a quality behavioral health system across the life span. Ms. Henry strongly believes that principled and visionary leadership at all levels is critical to moving the behavioral health field into the 21st century. Ms. Henry has provided leadership at a national level in various capacities. From 2002-06, she served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Institutes of Health. From 2005-07 she was the president of the board of directors of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), where her agenda focused on the development of NASMHPD partnerships with other national organizations to support mental health and substance abuse system transformation. She continues to serve on the NASMHPD board. Ms. Henry is a member of ACMHA.

Edward L. Knight, PhD, is a nationally known consumer survivor leader, researcher, and trainer. He is Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Mutual Support for ValueOptions and an Adjunct Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. He is currently doing research with UCLA/RAND, Yale University, Nathan Kline, and Mental Health Empowerment Project. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been homeless. He is a user of mental health services in Colorado Springs, CO. Dr. Knight is a member of ACMHA.

Barbara Leadholm, MS, MBA, was named Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) in September 2007. Commissioner Leadholm has an extensive background in the behavioral health field including six years at the Department of Mental Health in the 1990s and service in the departments of Medicaid and Welfare. Her clinical knowledge and experience in the public and private mental health service sectors enables DMH to provide quality services, improve access and empower consumers and their families. Ms. Leadholm began her career in Massachusetts as a psychiatric nurse clinician at Brookside Health Center. For the past 10 years she worked for Magellan Health Services, most recently as vice president of health plan solutions with broad expertise in developing and implementing public sector behavioral health plans and services. At Magellen Ms. Leadholm developed the carve-in program that integrates health plans and public sector programs to serve people in need. Commissioner Leadholm earned her Master of Science degree in psychiatric nursing from Boston College and Master of Business Administration from Boston University. She has served on the boards of directors of a number of organizations including the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, and the Charles H. Farnsworth Housing Corporation of Jamaica Plain.

Ruth Liu, MA, is Associate Secretary for Health Policy Development at the California Health and Human Services Agency. She is one of four chief advisors to the Governor and Secretary Kim Belshe on the governor’s health reform proposal. Before joining the Health and Human Services Agency, Ms. Liu was a senior policy analyst in the government relations department at Kaiser Permanente. Her issue areas there included the uninsured, individual, and small group market reform and children’s health issues. Ms. Liu has also worked at UCSF’s Center for the Health Professions on workforce issues. Prior to her work in health policy, Ms. Liu was a journalist for many years, focusing on US-Japanese relations, in both Washington DC and Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Liu holds a masters degree in public policy from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in history from Wellesley College.

Herminio Maldonado is a Certified Forensic Peer Specialist graduate from Howie T. Harp Advocacy Center in New York City. Mr. Maldonado works as a Peer Advocate for Baltic Street at the Bronx Peer Advocacy Center. He also worked as a Peer Counselor in the Forensic Psychiatric Unit at Bellevue Hospital and as a Peer Specialist for the Bronx TASC Jail Diversion Program. As a consumer/survivor of mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, incarceration, physical and sexual abuse in the foster care system, and traumas, he is an outspoken advocate on every issue associated with mental health. Mr. Maldonado has done many presentations across the country and is considered by his peers to be a motivational and inspirational speaker. His message in all his presentations is that “Recovery is Possible for Everyone.”

Jennifer L. Magnabosco, PhD, is Associate Director and Senior Research Associate at The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles. Prior to joining The Leavey Center in 2006, Dr. Magnabosco held management, research, and clinical practice positions in both public and private sector organizations, including Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Social Work Practice at Columbia University; Associate Policy Researcher of the RAND Corporation; Project Associate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Mental Health Policy Research Network; and Health Science Research/Formative Evaluation/Survey Specialist, Co-Investigator and Project Director of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs-RAND-UCLA Center of Excellence for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior. For the last few years she has served as consultant to the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health. Magnabosco’s research has focused on the implementation, improvement and evaluation of government and community-based human services and systems, especially mental health. Her publications include articles in Implementation Science, Administration in Policy Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research, Psychiatric Services, Community Mental Health and Obesity Research; book reviews; book chapters; and working reports for the RAND and Corporationand the MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Magnabosco is a reviewer for academic journals and has been a technical reviewer for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She holds a PhD in Social Policy Administration from Columbia University, and a MA in Social Science-Concentration in Human Development and BA in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the University of Chicago Southern California Leadership Council and a former Vice President of the University of Chicago National Alumni Board of Governors and National Board of Governors Member for the Columbia University School of Social Work. Dr. Magnabosco is a member of ACMHA.

Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, is the Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs at Constella/SRA International, where he arrived in 2006. In this capacity he is developing new demonstration and research projects around mental health and substance use services, programs, and systems, using a public health framework. Consumer and family concerns pervade all of this work. Concurrently, he is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and a Member of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Group on Healthy People 2020. Previously, Dr. Manderscheid served as Branch Chief, Survey and Analysis Branch, for the Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, since 1992. Manderscheid is on the governing council of the American Public Health Association, President of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) Foundation, past president of FEIAA, and past chair of the APHA Mental Health Section. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Sociological Practice Section of the American Sociological Association, and as President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the District of Columbia Sociological Society. During the National Health Care Reform debate, Dr. Manderscheid served as Policy Advisor on National Health Care Reform in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1993, Dr. Manderscheid was a member of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Work Group of the President’s Task Force on Health Care Reform. He served as principal editor of Mental Health, United States between 1987 and 2004. He has also authored numerous scientific and professional publications on services to persons with mental illnesses. He is the recipient of both federal and professional awards, including the 1995 SAMHSA National Sociological Practice Award. Dr. Manderschied is a member of the ACMHA Board of Directors and the 2008 Summit chair.

Ali H. Mokdad, PhD is a Distinguished Scientist at the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. He received his PhD in quantitative epidemiology from Emory University and joined CDC in 1990 where he has served in various positions with the International Health Program, the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, and the National Immunization Program. He was appointed Chief of the Behavioral Surveillance Branch in 2002. He also manages and directs the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world’s largest standardized telephone survey, to enable the CDC, state health departments, and other health and education agencies to monitor risk behaviors related to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Dr. Mokdad has published over 175 articles and numerous reports. He has received several awards including the Global Health Achievement for his work in Banda Aceh after the Tsunami, the Department of Health and Human Services Honor Award for his work on flu monitoring, and the Shepard award for outstanding scientific contribution to public health for his work on BRFSS.

Delia Olufokunbi, PhD, is a psychologist and social scientist with more than eight years of project management, program evaluation, and research experience. She has conducted research and evaluation in the areas of substance abuse, behavioral health policy, minority health, child welfare, poverty, welfare reform, and domestic violence. Dr. Olufokunbi is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Health Services Research and Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and the Chief Operating Officer of Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, a national initiative to improve access to alcohol treatment. She is currently leading an initiative to increase screening and brief intervention services for alcohol use disorders. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Olufokunbi was a Senior Research Associate at Caliber Associates, a leading research and evaluation consulting firm. Dr. Olufokunbi is a member of ACMHA.

Joseph Parks, MD, serves as Chief Clinical Officer for the Department of Mental Health as well as the Director for the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services for the State of Missouri Department of Mental Health. He also serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and University of Missouri in Columbia. He is President of the Medical Director’s Council of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. He practices psychiatry on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center, a federally funded community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Columbia area. Dr. Parks has authored or coauthored a number of original articles, monographs, technical papers, and reviews on implementation of evidence-based medicine and pharmacy utilization management and behavioral treatment programs. His work has appeared in several journals (Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Psychiatric Practices, Psychiatry Quarterly, Manual of Clinical Emergency Psychiatry, Behavioral Interviews, Hospital and Community Psychiatry, and Advanced Studies in Nursing). He was awarded the 2006 American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award for a program controlling pharmacy costs by improving prescribing practices.

Jeff Peterson, MD, is a primary care pediatrician in Yarmouth, Maine. After completing residency at Brown University in 2005 he moved to Maine and took a position at a practice in the rural western mountains. The practice served a poor population with significant unmet mental health needs. Dr. Peterson was invited to take part in a collaborative sponsored by Maine Health, the umbrella organization for Maine Medical Center, the largest hospital in the state. He worked with Dr. Neil Korsen and his team on the project. With the help of the collaborative, his practice was able to make a formal connection with a local mental health agency. This project led to much improved communications between their physicians and the mental health providers and improved access and care for patients. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Kansas and medical school at Loyola University in Chicago. Dr. Peterson completed his residency in general pediatrics at Brown University in 2005 and have practiced general pediatrics in Maine since then.

A. Kathryn Power, MEd, is the Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). CMHS is charged with providing national leadership in improving mental health services for all Americans. As director Ms. Power leads the SAMHSA/CMHS staff in addressing both the 21st century challenges and opportunities presented to the nation’s system of quality mental health care – from developing approaches to reduce disparities in access to services and negotiate the complexity of financing and funding concerns to building on presidential priorities such as the New Freedom Initiative, the President’s New Freedom Mental Health Commission and growing support for mental health parity. Prior to her appointment Ms. Power served for over 10 years as Director of the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, responsible for four systems of care serving individuals with serious disabilities. She had previously directed the Rhode Island Office of Substance Abuse, the Governor’s Drug Program, and the Rhode Island Anti-Drug Coalition. From 1985 – 1990 Ms. Power served as executive director of the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Centers. Earlier experience includes teaching at both elementary and secondary levels, counseling, leadership and advocacy in rape crisis and domestic violence agencies, and computer systems analysis for the Department of Defense. She has served as President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and has received many distinguished service awards for her work in mental health, substance abuse, and civic leadership. In addition, she has served on the boards of directors of over l00 non-profit agencies, commissions, and task forces in both the public and private sectors. Power received her BA in education from St. Joseph’s College in Maryland and her MEd in education and counseling from Western Maryland College. She is a graduate of the Toll Fellowship program of the Council of State Legislators and completed the program in executive and leadership government administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has extensive practical training and teaching experience in leadership, ethics and the public sector, policy development, and program implementation. Ms. Power is currently a Captain serving in the US Naval Reserve.

Nighat S. Qadri, MD, is the Medical Director for Primary Care at Crider Health Center in Wentzville, MO. This safety net community health center provides integrated primary health, mental health, and dental services. In her native Pakistan she established and operated a comprehensive family practice center and a family planning center. Dr. Qadri conducted an immunization program under the World Health Organization and supervised medical and paramedical staff. She furthered her training in the United States and was a hospitalist before coming to Crider Health Center in her current position in the spring of 2007, beginning services in July of that year. She is Board Certified in Internal and Geriatric Medicine.

Charles G. Ray, is a principal with Criterion Health, Inc., and has served as a clinician, manager, consultant, and organization leader in behavioral health for 36 years. Criterion Health provides behavioral health management and systems design, development, and operational staffing for provider sponsored networks and other care providers. Recent projects have included designing emergency department diversion systems, design, development and ongoing operational support of a state wide Medicaid managed care system, strategic planning for a national residential children’s corporation, integration of behavioral health and primary care, and disease management systems. He served as President and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Health Care (1988 – 2003), is the Treasurer of the World Federation For Mental Health, and President of the Community Health Facility Fund, a recipient of Robert Woods Johnson Foundation program related investment funds providing bond financing for non-profit community service providers. Mr. Ray is a member of ACMHA.

Brenda Reiss-Brennan, MS, APRN, CS, Mental Health Integration Director, Intermountain Healthcare, has been a licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner for over 30 years. She developed the Mental Health Integration concepts, which have been adopted and refined at Intermountain and for which she is well-known nationally. In 2006 Ms. Reiss-Brennan received the Osler’s Cloak Award for Excellence in Caring and Curing for her outstanding contribution to patient care and the advancement of clinical learning. Ms. Reiss-Brennan serves as principal investigator on several Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants related to implementing sustainable models of integrating mental health into primary care. She has published and presented both nationally and internationally and holds a joint faculty appointment with the University of Utah College of Nursing. Ms. Reiss-Brennan is a member of ACMHA.

Raymond Rion, MD, is the Medical Director and a long-time friend of Packard Community Clinic who joined the clinic in 2002. He is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and completed his residency at Brown University. After his training Dr. Rion worked at a federally funded health center near Alpena. He returned to southeast Michigan and joined the University of Michigan in 1992. He has practiced in the Ann Arbor area since that time and has extensive teaching and administrative experience at the University. Dr. Rion is board certified in Family Practice and Geriatrics. His clinical interests include diabetes, geriatrics, and adult dermatology. He enjoys running, biking, hiking, hockey, and traveling to the southwest.

Linda Rosenberg, MSW, President and CEO, leads the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. A certified social worker and trained family therapist and psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner, Rosenberg has extensive experience in hospital and community psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation programs. Prior to joining the National Council in 2004, Rosenberg served for seven years as Senior Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health. She led the implementation of evidence-based practices for adults and children, tripling New York’s assertive community treatment capacity, initiating a major expansion of children’s systems of care services, and developing an extensive array of housing options for people with serious mental illness. She also implemented a network of jail diversion treatment programs and was instrumental in the opening of New York’s first mental health court. Working with schools of social work throughout New York State, Rosenberg promoted and supported curriculum reform introducing evidence-based practice courses and recipient and family education programs. She holds faculty appointments at several schools of social work and serves on numerous agency and editorial boards. Ms. Rosenberg is a member of ACMHA.

Harvey Rosenthal has over 30 years of professional experience in New York State’s public mental health system. He has served in a variety of capacities ranging from state hospital therapy aide to clubhouse rehabilitation program director to his long-time commitment to working to improve services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities as executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). Over the last decade, he has helped support successful campaigns to advance community recovery services and the community workforce, employment centered polices and incentives, prison mental health reforms, cultural and linguistic competence initiatives, new programs to aid underserved groups, and to work for self determination and choice and against the policies of discrimination and coercion. Mr. Rosenthal has also helped create and support NYAPRS’ nationally acclaimed efforts to transform mental health care to support recovery, wellness, employment and other self determined community-centered goals and to boost the role of peer support in local and statewide systems. His commitment arises directly out of his own recovery. He regularly speaks across the country promoting the recovery, rehabilitation, and rights of people with psychiatric disabilities and the importance of broader cross-disability policies (most notably self directed care), collaborations, and advocacy. Mr. Rosenthal is a member of ACMHA.

Martin D Sellers has been an active agent of change in the healthcare industry for three decades. In 2001 he founded Sellers Feinberg. As CEO, he conceptualizes and orchestrates the overall vision and strategic direction of the firm, offering keen expertise on federal and state health policy issues and in the field of Medicaid revenue enhancement. Many governors, appointed officials, and healthcare companies rely on his purposeful guidance to accomplish their Medicaid and healthcare reform goals. Mr. Sellers’ resourceful and inventive approaches have profoundly affected Medicaid reform and financing initiatives in many states. He continuously seeks out inspired win-win solutions to some of the nation’s most challenging healthcare concerns. Most recently, Mr. Sellers actively influenced the formulation and evolution of Massachusetts’ forward-thinking healthcare proposal, providing insight and counsel to Governor Mitt Romney’s administration. He is currently involved in principal reform initiatives in several other states. Prior to founding Sellers Feinberg, he served as a healthcare government relations consultant. For 22 years he worked at one of Pennsylvania’s largest government relations firms where he established and developed its healthcare and Washington, DC practices. As senior vice president of strategic consulting, he provided advice and guidance to a wide array of healthcare businesses and organizations. Mr. Sellers has also previously served in various key roles within Pennsylvania state government. He holds a BA in Political Science and Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Lauren Spiro, MA, isthe Director of Public Policy for the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations. She has spent over 30 years working in a variety of behavioral healthcare settings in positions ranging from direct service provider to senior manager. She has served on a number of boards of directors and advisory boards and was a founding board member of Housing Unlimited, Inc., an award-winning non-profit corporation in Maryland that provides housing for adults labeled with mental illness. She has served on the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities’ (CARF) International’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Group and is currently on the board of the Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership and on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Person Directed Service Planning Training Guide Project. For several years she has traveled across the country as a CARF surveyor and as a mental health recovery consultant and educator. Ms. Spiro has presented at national, state, and provider conferences on evaluation and measurement of recovery outcomes, peer support, the recovery process, systems transformation, quality management, and cultural competency. As a teenager she was labeled with chronic schizophrenia. She educates diverse stakeholders on the dynamic components of the journey to wellness. Ms. Spiro envisions an America where every individual is respected and included as a valued member of the community. She has an MA in clinical/community psychology.

Tommy G. Thompson, the former Health and Human Services Secretary and four-term Governor of Wisconsin, is Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. At Deloitte and Akin Gump, Secretary Thompson is building on his efforts as HHS Secretary and Governor to develop innovative solutions to the health care challenges facing American families, businesses, communities, states, and the nation as a whole. These efforts focus on improving the use of information technology in hospitals, clinics and doctors offices; promoting healthier lifestyles; strengthening and modernizing Medicare and Medicaid; and expanding the use of medical diplomacy around the world. Secretary Thompson served as HHS Secretary from 2001 – 05 and is one of the nation’s leading advocates for the health and welfare of all Americans. He has dedicated his professional life to public service and served as Governor of Wisconsin from 1987 – 2001. Secretary Thompson began his career in public service in 1966 as a representative in Wisconsin’s State Assembly. He was elected assistant Assembly minority leader in 1973 and Assembly minority leader in 1981. Secretary Thompson has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Public Service Award. In 1997, the Secretary received Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year Award and the Horatio Alger Award in 1998. The Secretary has also served as chairman of the National Governors’ Association, the Education Commission of the States, and the Midwestern Governors’ Conference. Secretary Thompson also served in the Wisconsin National Guard and the Army Reserve.

Karl Wilson, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who was trained in and identifies himself as a community psychologist. He is the first President and CEO of the Crider Health Center, which he has led for over 28 years. This safety net community health and mental health center serves the Missouri counties of Lincoln, Warren, Franklin, and St. Charles with a staff of more than 200, a provider network and a $13 million annual budget. He has taught at Washington University in St. Louis for 31 years, first in psychology and then in social work where he teaches Mental Health Policy. He has served as chair of the Boards of Directors of the Missouri Coalition of Community Mental Health Centers, the Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis, and Missouri Foundation for Health and Behavioral Health Response. He currently serves on the boards of ten non-profit local, regional, and national organizations including Mental Health America. Dr. Wilson is a member of ACMHA.

Sherri D. Wittwer, MPA, is the Executive Director of NAMI Utah (the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Utah), a non-profit organization focused on offering education, support, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by mental illness. In conjunction with her work at NAMI Utah, Ms. Wittwer has been actively engaged in affecting positive change in mental health care in Utah by developing, overseeing and coordinating projects and initiatives in partnership with a number of government agencies and community organizations.