National Coalition of Mental Health
Consumer/Survivor Organizations

Joseph is president/CEO of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania and executive director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse. He has testified before U.S. Senate committees; has consulted in more than 30 states, as well as nationally and internationally; has served on many boards and committees; and has received local and national awards, including the 2005 Heinz Award for the Human Condition.

My home is Lafayette, Louisiana and I am very happy to be an advocate for those of us who suffer from mental illness. I am presently president for the primary state consumer organization, Meaningful Minds of Louisiana. My advocacy work has been to bridge gaps between Office of Mental Health and those that are served by this consumer-run organization, I am President of the local chapter for Mental Health Association and co- chair for the Regional Advisory Council in my region. I am also very active in committees within my state on the state level. Making a difference is what I choose to do with my life.

Sally Zinman has been a pioneer in the mental patient rights movement for almost thirty years. In 1977, Sally founded a client-run organization called the Mental Patients' Rights Association in West Palm Beach, Florida. This organization developed a small, unfunded, all-volunteer client-run community center and shared living space. These were among the first client-run drop-in centers and supportive housing projects in the country. Later, in 1985 in Berkeley, California, she helped found the Coalition for Alternatives in Mental health, known as the Berkeley Drop-In Center, one of the first funded self-help agencies in the country.
Sally has been passionate about systemic change as well as direct services. She was a founding member of the California Network of Mental Health Clients, a statewide rights organization working to develop and expand self-help groups throughout the state, to confront stigmatizing attitudes about mental health clients, to provide a strong voice of, by and for mental health clients, and to promote and instill the rights of clients. Today she serves as its Executive Director.

In 1986, Sally co-edited and wrote articles for Reaching Across: Mental Health Clients Helping Each Other, which has been used by mental health clients and professionals throughout the country as a manual for understanding and starting self-help programs. A sequel, which Sally co-edited and for which she also wrote articles, Reaching Across 2: Maintaining Our Roots/ The Challenge of Growth, was published in 1994.

Sally is a workshop presenter, keynote speaker, and consultant on issues of clients' perspective, self-help programs, the consumer/survivor movement, and rights protections and advocacy throughout the United States.

Peter is a consumer/survivor and the Executive Vice President for the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) a position he started in August 2007. He is the former Executive Director of the Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP) in New York, a position he held for 11 years. He provides training to consumer/survivors and mental health professionals nationally and has been active in starting many self-help groups.

Peter is a former Commissioner of the Certification Commission of USPRA. He is the Treasurer and Executive Committee Member of the Board of USPRA. Peter also serves on The Board of Directors for the Baltic Street Mental Health Board, is a former member and Secretary of the Board of the Depression Bi-Polar Support Alliance and is a former member of the CARF (the Accreditation Association) Board. He was also a former member of the Board of PEOPLe, Inc., the Mental Health Association of New York State (MHANYS), and the Treasurer for the Peer Accreditation Project of New York State.

Peter is certified by Mary Ellen Copeland to train recipients of mental health services in the Wellness Recovery Action Plan, a member of the Copeland Speaker’s Bureau, and a member of the Advisory Committee to Mary Ellen Copeland’s Wellness Recovery Center. Peter has offered many keynotes throughout the country with the most notable at the Alternatives Conference in Denver, Colorado in 2004.

Dan obtained a PhD in biochemistry and carried out neurochemical research at the National Institutes of Mental Health. During the course of that work, he was labeled with mental illness. He recovered, earned a medical degree and became a psychiatrist. As co-founder and Executive Director of the National Empowerment Center, he has been an outspoken advocate for rights and recovery. Dan was a Commissioner on the White House New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. He promotes recovery throughout the US and in Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Korea.

Linda has been the Executive Director of the statewide consumer run agency of Vermont (Vermont Psychiatric Survivors) for 9 years. Previously she was the Recovery Education Coordinator for Vermont Recovery Education Project. Linda began having mental health issues at age 6. She is passionate about recovery and building peer leadership. Linda believes that recovery is a personal process which each individual must define for one’s self.

Co-Founder and Director of Advocacy/Program Development of Consumer Action Network (CAN) is a leading advocate on consumer issues in the District of Columbia. She has promoted self-direction and recovery for users of mental health services in many ways, from co-launching the first consumer-operated professional organization, to promoting entrepreneurship concepts for consumers, and Serving on various State and national-level committees and advisory boards, including the DC State Mental Health Planning Council. She encourages people who use services to be involved in policy and program development to become drivers of system change. Effie is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and is passionate about enhancing housing options for persons with disabilities.

Doug DeVoe has served as CEO of Ohio Advocates for Mental Health (OAMH) since June, 1990. OAMH is a statewide advocacy organization of and for people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. During his tenure, OAMH has progressed from a virtually unknown organization to a recognized leader in mental health advocacy in Ohio and the nation.
DeVoe served on the Ohio Study Committee on Mental Health Services, State Mental Health Planning Council, Disability Network of Ohio, Disability Policy Coalition, ADA-OHIO, Coalition for Healthy Communities, Ohio Olmstead Taskforce, the Ohio Supreme Court Mental Health and Criminal Justice Committee and numerous other state and national planning efforts.

In August, 2006, DeVoe was awarded a Voice Award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/HHS. He has also received the NAMI Ohio Director’s Award, 2004; the Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance Ohio Advocate of the Year, 2001; and the Helping Hands Award from the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, 2001.

He has a Master of Arts degree in political science from Northeastern University in Boston, and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He has worked with people with disabilities for 30 years in a variety of roles and responsibilities.

Mike is the Executive Director of On Our Own of Maryland, Inc., a statewide mental health consumer advocacy and education organization, which has a combined membership of over 1,400 people and represents 20 affiliated independent, mental health consumer-operated agencies around Maryland. Mr. Finkle is also a former Chairperson of the joint Maryland Advisory Council on Mental Hygiene and the federal P.L. 102-21 State Planning Council. He has been involved in mental health consumer advocacy since 1981 and helped coordinate and host the first national Alternatives Conference which was held in 1985 in Baltimore, MD.

Kathy is Director of Consumer Organization and Networking Technical Assistance Center (CONTAC), West Virginia, which oversees implementation of self-help education and training programs such as the Leadership Academy. She has facilitated Leadership Academy workshops and presentations for several years as well as authored articles on leadership and empowerment. Ms. Muscari applies both personal and professional expertise to facilitate skill-development in areas of wellness and recovery, non-profit governance, transformational leadership, and peer support.