Press Releases

NAMI Elects New Board of Directors in Conjunction with NAMICon 2021 Virtual Event

Jul 29 2021

Arlington, VA — The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) today announced the election of its new board of directors. Shirley J. Holloway, Ph.D., was elected to serve a second term as board president of the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. She is an Education Consultant at Leadership for Excellence in Anchorage, Alaska, and was previously Alaska’s Commissioner of Education and Early Development.

“I am honored and humbled to have been elected to a second term as president of NAMI’s board of directors,” Holloway said.

“We are eager to build on NAMI’s achievements this past year and a half, which include legislative and policy victories, the selection of a new CEO, significant growth in revenues and partnerships, and a re-evaluation of NAMI’s strategic goals, along with a reconfiguring to meet the challenges ahead. What’s more, NAMI has done all of this while confronting an ongoing pandemic. I am excited to see what NAMI and this board will achieve in the coming year.”

NAMI members elected the new board members and officers July 24 in conjunction with NAMICon 2021, which was held virtually July 27 – 28. Board members are elected for three-year terms and may serve two consecutive terms. The board plays a central role in making policy to govern NAMI, determine its official position on matters of public policy, set the budget and priorities of the national office, and participates in the development of and then approves the strategic plans to guide organizational development.

NAMI’s new board of directors and executive committee are as follows:

Executive Committee:

Newly elected (term ending 2024):

  • Jeff Fladen, MSW
  • Ray Lay, CHWCRS-SA
  • Glenda Wrenn Gordon, M.D., MSHP
  • Lauren Simonds, MSW

Incumbent members elected to second terms:

  • Judge Joyce A. Campbell, J.D.
  • Vanessa Fernandes, SHRM-CP

Continuing board members:

  • Carlos A. Larrauri, MSN, APRN, PMNHP-BC, FNP-BC
  • Catherine “Carrie” Roach, M.S.
  • Connie Mom-Chhing, MPA, D.M.
  • James “Jim” Reiser, MBA
  • Lisa Carchedi, M.D., M.S. C-IAYT
  • Lisa B. Dixon, M.D., MPH
  • Micah Pearson, CPSW
  • Tracy Plouck, MPA
  • Vanessa Price