Our Team and Our Advisors

Founding Team

Annie Slease
Chief Executive Officer

  • Annie Slease, M.Ed., sits at the intersection of education and mental health, professionally and personally. When her child’s crisis emerged over a dozen years ago, Annie was a classroom teacher unaware of mental health literacy. Inspired by her personal experience navigating family mental illness without information or support, she repurposed her 25-year teaching career into mental health advocacy. Since 2017, she has served her home state of Delaware raising awareness, addressing gaps, and championing upstream solutions. In 2023, Annie was appointed by the governor as a voting member of the Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium. Annie is a mother, grandmother, wife, teacher, and advocate. She is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a Cofounder of the MHLC.

Jason Schofield
Chief Operating Officer

  • Jason Schofield is an author, educator, and speaker who makes educational content engaging and memorable. He has founded multiple companies and organizations in the health space and brings his creative spirit and forward-thinking mindset to all of his projects. Jason is particularly passionate about finding ways to bring people together to collaborate at the intersection of health and education. He is a Cofounder of the MHLC.

Dr. Donna Volpitta
Chief Learning Officer

  • Donna Volpitta, Ed.D. is an educator, author, and speaker who loves making the brain science of resilience and mental health easy to understand and apply. She is a former classroom teacher with experience in both general and special education, a board member of One Revolution Foundation, a member of the Mental Wellness Initiative and Children's Wellness Initiative of the Global Wellness Institute, a Global Presence Ambassador for Parenting 2.0, and a member of the Character Collaborative. Donna is a Cofounder of the MHLC, and the mother of four adventurous young adults.

MHL Aware Discussion Facilitators

  • Annie Valentine

    Founder, Mental Health Education and Consulting

    Vermont

  • Juls Landy, Ed.D.

    Director of Assessment, Professional Growth, and Community Services Initiatives • Center for Instruction, Technology, and Innovation

    Oswego County, New York

  • Sunny Noelle Naughton, MHL, M.Psy

    Founder and Lead Consultant, Sunshine Silver Linings

    Vermont

  • Misty Mason

    Dual Certified Peer in Mental Health and SUD; Harmony Ridge Recovery Center

    West Virginia

Advisors

  • Austin Wyman

    Doctoral Student at the University of Notre Dame

  • Erin L. Wick

    Executive Director of Behavioral Health & Integrated Student Supports, Capital Region ESD 113, WA

  • Dr. Mark Weist

    Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina • Lead, Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community

  • Dr. Yifeng Wei

    Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry, FoMD & WCHRI, FoMD University of Alberta

  • Chris Waddell

    CEO Chris Waddell Inc • Founder and Executive Director One Revolution Foundation

  • Ross Szabo

    CEO, Human Power Project & Wellness • Director at Geffen Academy

  • Mackenzie Shane

    Project Lead - Standards-Based IEPs & Educational Benefit Review, University of Delaware

  • Abbie Rosenberg

    Founder & Executive Director of Mental Health Collaborative

  • Sean Perry

    Founder and Executive Director of We R H.O.P.E. Inc.

  • Dr. Brittany Parham

    Co-Director, National Center for School Mental Health • Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine

  • Stephanie Pasternak

    Director of State Affairs for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

  • Dr. Zainab Okolo

    Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy & Government Relations at The Jed Foundation

  • Julian Nuñez

    Master's student at Northwestern University • Kindergarten Co-Teacher at Greenwich Country Day School

  • Pooja Mehta

    Senior Consultant and Mental Health Advocate

  • Kristina MacBury

    Principal at Sarah Pyle Academy, Author, and Mental Health Advocate

  • Hon. Dr. Stan Kutcher

    Leading MHL Researcher, Advocate, and Educator

  • Angela Kimball

    Chief Advocacy Officer at Inseparable

  • Dareen Khatib

    Senior Administrator of Health, Safety, and Prevention at the Orange County Department of Education

  • Nicole Kennedy

    Research Specialist at Rodel

  • Joe Jegier

    Director of Advancement at Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Detroit, MI

  • Dr. Sharon Hoover

    Former Co-Director of NCSMH • Professor Emerita, University of Maryland

  • Dr. Jason Frydman

    Associate Professor of School Psychology, North Carolina State University

  • Tramaine El-Amin

    Vice President, Mental Health First Aid • National Council for Mental Wellbeing

  • Dr. Brooke Eisenbach

    Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at Lesley University

  • Todd Crooks

    Executive Director of Chad's Legacy Project

  • Katie Conklin

    Vice President of Programs at Erika’s Lighthouse

  • Dr. Wendy Carr

    Professor Emerita, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia

  • Andrew Baxter

    Team Lead for Mentalhealthliteracy.org and the Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project

  • Talli Dolge

    National Mental Health Strategic Advisor and Executive Consultant

  • Eric McNulty

    Associate Director at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) at Harvard University

  • Michelle Palladini

    Deputy Chief of Police, Norfolk MA / Professor of Criminal Justice, Dean College

  • Alisa Smedley

    CEO, the Center for Re-Entry Excellence, LLC

  • Sunny Noelle Naughton

    Founder and Lead Consultant, Sunshine Silver Lining

  • John Crocker

    Founder and Director of MASMHC • Director of School Mental Health & Behavioral Services, Methuen Public Schools

  • Crisjon Solano

    University Academy Principal at HMHI • Brain Health Curriculum Project Specialist and Project Co-Sponsor

  • Dr. Kathleen Ethier

    Co-Founder, Triple Dividend Partners

  • Guiying (Angel) Zhong

    Post-Baccalaureate Research Associate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and Scholar-Activist

  • Alyssa Reiter

    Research Assistant at Michigan Medicine's Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention Program • MH Advocate

  • Tesia Shi

    Doctoral Student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

  • Clementina Jose, LMSW

    Licensed Master Social Work and Program Manager in Higher Education, Speaker, Writer, SEL Consultant

  • Davy Yue

    ​​Consultant, Speaker, Mental Health Advocate

  • Claire Bradley

    Mental Health Advocate, NAMI Next Gen • Former White House Intern.

  • Anuj Gandhi

    Fulbright-Nehru Student Researcher | NAMI Next Gen Advisor | Founder of MyJyoti

  • Nousha Flore

    Journalist, Mental Health Advocate

  • Huda Ismail

    Mental Health Advocate • Clinical Extern at Rutgers University • Digital Marketing Consultant

  • Dr. Jessica Pierce

    Medical Director, Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan