Shirley J. Holloway, Ph.D.

Immediate Past President
NAMI Board of Directors
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Shirley J. Holloway, Ph.D., is Immediate Past President of the NAMI Board of Directors and served as NAMI’s President for two years. She currently serves as the NAMI Alaska Vice President.

Dr. Holloway's earned her Ph.D. at Gonzaga University. Her career includes being a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing, speech pathologist, principal, superintendent, college professor and college president. She has served as a Regent of Charter College, the President of Sheldon Jackson College and as a board member for the Blood Bank of Alaska, the Special Olympics, the CIRI Foundation, the Ilisagvik Foundation and NAMI Anchorage. She is also the Commissioner of Education and Early Development for the state of Alaska. Shirley provides consulting services through her business, Leadership for Excellence. Her areas of expertise include developing and improving relationships, processes and policies for both governing boards and their executive leadership.

She first found NAMI after the loss of her daughter to mental illness. Through her work with NAMI, she hopes to improve access and quality of mental health services to underserved populations.

Shirley is also known as “Quvian,” the Inupiat name given to her by the people of Utqiagvik (previously known as Barrow), which means “person of joy.”