Our Team and Our Advisors
Core Team
Annie Slease
Chief Executive Officer
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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
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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
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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
Advisors
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Austin Wyman
PhD Candidate in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Notre Dame
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Erin L. Wick
Executive Director of Behavioral Health & Integrated Student Supports, Capital Region ESD 113, WA
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Dr. Mark Weist
Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina • Lead, Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community
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Dr. Yifeng Wei
Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry, FoMD & WCHRI, FoMD University of Alberta
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Chris Waddell
CEO Chris Waddell Inc • Founder and Executive Director One Revolution Foundation
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Ross Szabo
CEO, Human Power Project & Wellness • Director at Geffen Academy
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Abbie Rosenberg
Founder & CEO of Mental Health Collaborative
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Sean Perry
Founder and Executive Director of We R H.O.P.E. Inc.
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Dr. Brittany Parham
Co-Director, National Center for School Mental Health • Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine
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Stephanie Pasternak
Director of State Affairs for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
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Dr. Zainab Okolo
Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy & Government Relations at The Jed Foundation
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Julian Nuñez
Master's student at Northwestern University • Kindergarten Co-Teacher at Greenwich Country Day School
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Pooja Mehta
AAPI Community Outreach Lead, NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services
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Kristina MacBury
Principal at Sarah Pyle Academy, Author, and Mental Health Advocate
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Hon. Dr. Stan Kutcher
Leading MHL Researcher, Advocate, and Educator
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Angela Kimball
Chief Advocacy Officer at Inseparable
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Dareen Khatib
Senior Administrator of Health, Safety, and Prevention at the Orange County Department of Education
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Nicole Kennedy
Research Specialist at Rodel
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Joe Jegier
Director of Advancement at Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Detroit, MI
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Dr. Sharon Hoover
Professor Emerita, University of Maryland • Strategic Advisor, Global School Mental Health for Boston Children's Hospital and Faculty, Harvard University
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Dr. Jason Frydman
Associate Professor of School Psychology, North Carolina State University
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Tramaine El-Amin
Vice President, Mental Health First Aid • National Council for Mental Wellbeing
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Dr. Brooke Eisenbach
Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at Lesley University
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Todd Crooks
Executive Director of Chad's Legacy Project
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Katie Conklin
Vice President of Programs at Erika’s Lighthouse
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Andrew Baxter
Team Lead for Mentalhealthliteracy.org and the Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project
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Talli Dolge
National Mental Health Strategic Advisor and Executive Consultant
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Eric McNulty
Associate Director at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) at Harvard University
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Michelle Palladini
Deputy Chief of Police, Norfolk MA / Professor of Criminal Justice, Dean College
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Alisa Smedley
CEO, the Center for Re-Entry Excellence, LLC
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John Crocker
Founder and Director of MASMHC • Director of School Mental Health & Behavioral Services, Methuen Public Schools
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Crisjon Solano
University Academy Principal at HMHI • Brain Health Curriculum Project Specialist and Project Co-Sponsor
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Dr. Kathleen Ethier
Co-Founder, Triple Dividend Partners
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Guiying (Angel) Zhong
PhD Student and Russell G. Hamilton Scholar at Vanderbilt University
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Alyssa Reiter
Research Assistant at Michigan Medicine's Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention Program • MH Advocate
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Tesia Shi
Doctoral Student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
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Clementina Jose, LMSW
Licensed Master Social Work and Program Manager in Higher Education, Speaker, Writer, SEL Consultant
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Davy Yue
Consultant, Speaker, Mental Health Advocate
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Claire Bradley
Mental Health Advocate, NAMI Next Gen • Former White House Intern.
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Anuj Gandhi
Fulbright-Nehru Student Researcher | NAMI Next Gen Advisor | Founder of MyJyoti
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Nousha Flore
Journalist, Mental Health Advocate
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Huda Ismail
Mental Health Advocate • Clinical Extern at Rutgers University • Digital Marketing Consultant
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Dr. Jessica Pierce
Medical Director, Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan