Richard A Callahan

Richard is a retired optician with a half century of practice in Maryland, District of Columbia, Florida, and North Carolina. He lives in Smithfield, North Carolina, with his wife, Marilyn, who is a retired Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Their kids and grand kids live in Rockledge, Florida.
 
His NAMI journey started in 2011 when he joined NAMI Johnston County, NC, an affiliate founded by Marilyn in 2007. He served as its secretary from 2010-2013 and as its executive director from 2013-2014. He has been serving as affiliate president since 2014.
 
On the state level, Richard served on the NAMI North Carolina Council of Affiliate Presidents from its founding in 2017 to 2023. He held the position of vice chair and then chair. Richard also served on the NAMI North Carolina State Board of Directors from 2018 to 2023 as secretary and parliamentarian.
 
On the national level, Richard served as chair of the NAMI Affiliate Presidents Council since its inception in 2023 until his election to the NAMI National Board of Directors in 2025. He has also served on the NAMI 10X Workgroup, By-Laws Committee and Workgroups, Education Work Group, Finance and Audit Committee, Board Policy and Governance Committee, and the Strengthen the Alliance Workgroup.
 
As a husband, father, uncle, and friend to loved ones with mental health conditions, Richard has worked serving family members and peers by becoming a certified NAMI leader for NAMI Family Support, NAMI Family to Family, NAMI Family and Friends, NAMI Provider, NAMI Smarts, and NAMI Sharing our Stories with Law Enforcement. Richard is also a Certified CIT Coordinator providing CIT Academies in Johnston, Harnett, and Wayne counties in North Carolina.
 
Richard’s other passion is choral music, which he studied at the University of Maryland, College Park. He also studied Parliamentary Procedure and Roberts Rules of Order under Henry Roberts III in Annapolis, Maryland, while heading numerous nonprofit and fraternal organizations in the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia area.