Alliance Day kicks off NAMICon with a dedicated space for the NAMI Alliance—NAMI National, State Offices, and Affiliates—to come together, learn, and collaborate. This day is designed to support and strengthen the incredible work of the NAMI Alliance happening across the country.
In 2025, NAMI Alliance Day was held virtually on June 10th and preceded the NAMI Convention
(June 11-13).
Alliance Day is designed for NAMI leaders, including:
- Board Volunteers
- Executive Directors
- Education & Program Managers
- Public Policy & Advocacy Leaders
- Walk Managers
This event provided attendees the opportunity to:
- Network with NAMI colleagues from across the country.
- Learn about updates on the draft Standards of Excellence.
- Hear from several NAMI National departments and leaders in the field.
- Gain practical tips, tools and takeaways to help build and/or strengthen your organization’s capacity.
Thank you for all you do to advance the mission and movement of NAMI!
Sessions:
Alliance Day Opening/Welcome Statements and Awards Presentation
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Building Volunteer Engagement
NAMI is great because of the passion of our people. Several NAMI leaders can tell you about how being part of a class or support group changed their life and saved their family, which is why they have stayed and continued to develop their career in NAMI. These are not rare situations. In this presentation, you will learn how you can harness the power of NAMI to build volunteer engagement. You will hear from NAMI Indiana staff who started as participants and now empower more volunteers to get engaged, as well as the steering committee chair from NAMI South Central IN on how she empowers leaders as a volunteer.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify stages of development for volunteers.
- Apply techniques for initial outreach to potential volunteers regardless of their NAMI's capacity.
- Learn approaches to retain and engage volunteers.
Rachel Gearinger, Senior Manager Field Capacity Building, NAMI National
Barbara Thompson, Executive Director, NAMI Indiana
Linda Williams, State Program Director, NAMI Indiana
Debbie Teike, Steering Committee Chair, NAMI South Central Indiana
Presentation Slides
Resources:
NAMI's Volunteer Recruitment & Management Course
Alliance Relations Learning Labs: Strengthening Your Bench: Effective Techniques for Screening and Interviewing Volunteers, Volunteer Onboarding: The Key to Retention and Stability for Your NAMI Organization
Playing Cupid: How to Match Volunteers To Your Organization's Needs.
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Dotting The I's and Crossing The T's: Program Director's Guides For Successful Program Management
It can be overwhelming to understand all the ins and outs of the many NAMI Education Programs and program leader training, or understanding the roles of NAMI State and Affiliates when it comes to NAMI Education Program support. This workshop will introduce valuable resources that every NAMI Program Director should keep close to better understand and manage each program, and provide information on NAMI National policies and procedures pertaining to these specific NAMI Education Programs.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify at least two resources that every NAMI should obtain if they offer any of the NAMI Education Programs.
- Describe the procedures and policies for translations or cultural adaptations to all NAMI Education Programs.
- Describe best practices for NAMI State and Affiliate organizations when searching for available Program Leader training.
Susan Caban, Chief Program Officer, NAMI National
Joel Richard, Director of NAMI Education Programs, NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania
Presentation Slides
Resources:
NAMI Education Policies and Guides
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Empowering Student Advocacy: Strategies For Growing NAMI On Campus Outreach
This presentation is about how NAMI collaborates with a successful NAMI State Organization and NAMI Affiliate to share their strategies and insight into how they operate NAMI On Campus (NOC) in their area. NOC is an initiative for student-led clubs in colleges and high schools focused on promoting mental health awareness and ending the stigma surrounding mental health. This presentation will include helpful tips and information on how others in the field can take up or grow their existing NOC efforts.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how others operate NAMI On Campus.
- Identify successful strategies to implement NAMI On Campus.
Sofia Amezcua, Manager Youth and Young Adult Initiatives, NAMI National
Emily Fagan, Director of Youth and Young Adult Programming, NAMI Illinois
Lexi Taylor, Youth and Advocacy Manager, NAMI Philadelphia
Presentation Slides
Resources:
NAMI On Campus Clubs
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Leading With A Purpose: Governance As Leadership
High-functioning boards contribute to the stability, sustainability, and success of the organizations they govern. This session will explore nonprofit board governance and how boards represent collective leadership. Attendees will build governance literacy and leave with tangible takeaways that they can use to identify their current board's leadership role and develop strategies to strengthen it.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain a deeper understanding of a nonprofit board's leadership role.
- Identify practical tools to leverage a board's collective leadership.
- Access resources that can assist with strengthening their board's leadership role and reference examples from a NAMI board leader.
Donna Maddox, Board President, NAMI Tennessee
Jacque Walsh, Senior Manager, Field Governance & Quality Assurance, NAMI National
Sabrina Harris, Senior Manager, Field Governance & Quality Assurance, NAMI National
Presentation Slides
Resources:
The Four Principles of Purpose-Drive Board Leadership
Purpose-Driven Board Leadership: A Conversation Starter for Boards
Improving the Effectiveness of Boards of Directors of Nonprofit Organizations
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NAMI Strong: Crisis Navigation Across The Alliance
When a mental health crisis happens, there is no time to search for answers — but you can be prepared. This session is for anyone who wants to learn more about how NAMI's newly updated “Navigating a Mental Health Crisis" guide can help individuals and families recognize the signs of a mental health crisis, know what to do in a mental health emergency, find practical resources and fillable crisis planning forms, and support loved ones — and care for themselves. Attendees will also hear how NAMI Affiliates and State Organizations might adapt materials from the NAMI Navigating a Mental Health Crisis Guide to create a supplement with information specific to their particular communities.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how the updated NAMI Navigating a Mental Health Crisis Guide has been enhanced to support help seekers, including how the guide integrates family and caregiver support.
- Utilize the updated NAMI Navigating a Mental Health Crisis Guide to identify relevant resources and strategies to support individuals and families who are anticipating, navigating or preparing for a mental health crisis.
- Describe how NSONAs can adapt materials from the NAMI Navigating a Mental Health Crisis Guide to create a supplement with information specific to their particular community.
Dawn Brown, National Director of HelpLine Services, NAMI National
Megan Rochford, Director of Helpline Operations, NAMI National
Hannah Woodman, Helpline Coordinator, NAMI Maine
Presentation Slides
Resources:
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
NAMI Maine Crisis Guide
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The Importance Of Diversified Funding
Do you feel like all your fundraising eggs are in one basket? Join the Strategic Alliances & Development department as we discuss "The Importance of Diversified Funding". We will dive into why you should diversify, the different types of fundraising, and hear from a Field Leader on how they implemented a more diverse funding strategy for their NAMI. Following the presentation, we will host an Ask the Expert-style panel to answer your burning fundraising questions and you'll walk away with a Budget Planning Tool to help kick-start your planning efforts.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the importance of diversified funding.
- Define different modes of fundraising.
- Identify tools to help draft a development plan.
Leandra Clovis, Field Resource Development, Strategic Alliance & Development, NAMI National
Rebecca Kiessling, Executive Director, NAMI Northern Virginia
Presentation Slides
Resource page coming soon!
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Standards of Excellence Updates
Thank you to those who participated in NAMI Alliance Day!