National Council for Mental Wellbeing Announces New Board Members

The National Council welcomes our newly elected Directors:

• Region 4 [AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN]
  • Laureen Pagel, CEO, Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare (Yulee, Fla.)
• Region 5 [IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI]
  • Grace Hong Duffin, President and CEO, Kenneth Young Center (Elk Grove Village, IL.)
• Region 7 [IA, KS, MO, NE]
  • Sadie Thompson,Chief Implementation Officer, Wellbeing Initiative (Lincoln, Neb.)

The following Board members were re-elected:

• 100% State Association Executives Representative
  • Kyle Kessler, Executive Director, Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas (Topeka, Kan.)
• Region 9 [CA, Guam, HI, NV]
  • Le Ondra Clark Harvey, Chief Executive Officer, California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies and Executive Director, California Access Coalition (Sacramento, Cal.)
• Region 10 [AK, ID, OR, WA]
  • Heather Jefferis, Executive Director, Oregon Council for Behavioral Health (Gladstone, Ore.)

The Board is composed of elected volunteers from the staff and community boards of National Council member organizations. They are elected by National Council member organizations representing 10 regions covering the entire U.S. The Board of Directors represents the membership and is committed to diversity, leadership and promoting excellence in mental health and substance use treatment.

“We welcome our newest Board members to the National Council at a time of both incredible opportunity and extraordinary challenge,” Board Chair Tim Swinfard, president and chief executive officer of Compass Health said. “The work we do in the coming months will shape the future of mental health and substance use treatment for years to come. Their experience and enthusiasm will be invaluable to our membership and the 10 million children, adults and families they serve.”

We are grateful to the following individuals for their service as they depart the Board on June 30, 2022: 

• Region 7 [IA, KS, MO, NE] and Chair of the Membership Committee
  • Pat Coleman,  President and Chief Executive Officer, Behavioral Health Response (St. Louis, Mo.)
• Region 4 [AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN]
  • Linda McKinnon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Central Florida Behavioral Health Network (Tampa, Fla.)
• Region 5 [IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI]
  • Mark Ishaug, Chief Executive Officer, Thresholds (Chicago, Ill.)

“The outgoing Board members provided remarkable leadership as our organization and our country have navigated through an unprecedented pandemic and our continuing challenges in its aftermath,” Chuck Ingoglia, president and CEO of the National Council said. “I am grateful for their guidance and their dedication as they generously shared their expertise, determination and professionalism. Although they will no longer serve the National Council in an official capacity, their contributions will continue to support our work on behalf of our members.”

The newly elected Board members assume their duties on July 1, 2022.