Strengthening America’s Mental Health Workforce

Talitha Arnold, M.Div
Rev. Talitha Arnold is a founding member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and its Faith Communities Task Force. A frequent speaker on the role of faith communities in mental health, she’s developed extensive interfaith resources and co-led the first national Weekend of Prayer for Suicide Prevention. She is also senior minister of the United Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico and served as Yale’s interim associate university chaplain.

Rev. Arnold is a graduate of Yale Divinity School and Pomona College.

America Bracho, MD, MPH
Dr. America Bracho is the executive director of Latino Health Access, a center for health promotion and disease prevention located in Santa Ana, California. Latino Health Access facilitates mechanisms of empowerment for the community and trains community health workers as leaders of wellness and change.

Dr. Bracho worked as a physician in her native Venezuela for several years, after which she came to the U.S. to obtain a master’s degree in public health at the University of Michigan. She is also a certified diabetes educator.

Cecilia Echeverría, MPH, MPP
Cecilia Echeverría is the executive director for Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Policy where she identifies emerging health policy topics, leads strategy and operations, and guides the Institute’s portfolio of work. Her areas of expertise include access to health care for underserved populations as well as behavioral health, school-based health, and early childhood issues. She joined Kaiser Permanente in 2013 as the Director of Safety Net Partnerships for the National Community Benefit program.

Echeverría holds master’s degrees in public policy and public health from the University of California, Berkeley and is an alumnus of the Presidential Management Fellows program.

Dawn Hunter, JD, MPH
Dawn Hunter is a deputy cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health. She has oversight of four program areas, including public health, epidemiology, the state laboratory, and health facilities licensing, and oversight. She leads strategic planning efforts, and guides quality improvement and performance management initiatives. Previously, Hunter served as policy director and continues to oversee the policy office, including directing legislative activities for the agency.

Brad Karlin, PhD, ABPP
Brad Karlin is vice president and chief of mental health and aging at the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) where he leads work with public and private health care systems to improve mental health care quality and delivery. Previously, he served as national mental health director for psychotherapy and psychogeriatrics for the Veteran’s Administration health care system.

Karlin is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and is a past president of the Society of Clinical Psychology. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and is board-certified in geropsychology.

Ron Manderscheid, PhD
Ron Manderscheid serves as the executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors. The Association represents county and local authorities in Washington, D.C., and provides a national program of technical assistance and support. Concurrently, he is executive director of the National Association for Rural Mental Health and adjunct professor at the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.

Don Mordecai, MD
Dr. Don Mordecai is the national leader for mental health and wellness at Kaiser Permanente, and director of mental health and chemical dependency services for the Permanente Medical Group in Northern California. He is also an adjunct clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School.

Dr. Mordecai holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and is board certified in psychiatry with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, BSW, NCAC II, CDCIII, SAP
Cynthia Moreno Tuohy is the executive director of the Association of Addiction Professionals (NAADAC). For over 20 years, she has also been the administrator of multi-county, publicly-funded alcohol and drug prevention/intervention/treatment centers. She has been a trainer in domestic violence, anger management, and conflict resolution for over 35 years as well as an international, national, and state trainer in a variety of topics.

Moreno Tuohy holds a bachelor’s degree in social work, advanced studies in social work and public administration, and a certificate in addiction studies.

Sunita Mutha, MD
Dr. Sunita Mutha directs Healthforce Center and is professor of medicine and primary care physician at the University of California, San Francisco. She leads Healthforce’s efforts to generate knowledge about the health care workforce that assist providers, policymakers, and funders in addressing critical health care challenges.

She has nearly two decades of experience as a workforce and cultural competence trainer and in creating leadership programs for emerging to executive level health professionals.

Keris Myrick
Keris Jän Myrick is the chief, peer services for the Los Angeles County of Mental Health. Formerly the director of the Office of Consumer Affairs for the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the United States Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), she is a leading mental health advocate and executive, known for her innovative and inclusive approach to mental health reform and the public disclosure of her personal story.

Myrick holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University and a master’s degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Linda Rosenberg, MSW
Linda Rosenberg is president and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health. Under her leadership the National Council has become the nation’s largest mental health and addiction education and advocacy association with 2,900 government and not-for-profit member organizations serving 10 million Americans.

The National Council helped secure passage of the federal parity law and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA); advanced the integration of behavioral health and primary care, leading to the creation of a Medicaid Health Home option; ensured passage of the Excellence in Mental Health Act; and introduced Mental Health First Aid in the U.S.

Neftali Serrano, PsyD
Neftali Serrano is the executive director of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, a national organization dedicated to promoting integrated care as the standard of care for all. He has devoted the majority of his career to working with federally qualified health centers, starting integrated care programs and consulting with clinics in underserved settings to assist with implementation of primary care behavioral health programs.

Dr. Serrano’s research interests include program development evaluations and outcome studies related to primary care behavioral health, particularly in underserved settings.

Winston F. Wong, MD, MS, FAAFP
Dr. Winston Wong is medical director of Community Benefit, National Program Office at Kaiser Permanente where he is responsible for developing partnerships with communities and organizations in advancing population management and evidence-based medicine, with a particular focus on health disparities and vulnerable populations. Prior to Kaiser Permanente, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service and was awarded an Outstanding Service Medal.

Dr. Wong received his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the A.T. Still School of Osteopathy.

Kathryn Wetzler, PsyD
Kathryn Wetzler is the regional director for the doctoral and masters level training programs in 20 medical centers throughout Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region. The goal of the training programs is to provide the highest quality of mental health training using evidence based, science informed treatment throughout Kaiser Permanente.

Glenda Wrenn, MD
Dr. Glenda Wrenn is an associate professor, psychiatrist, and health policy/mental health services researcher at Morehouse School of Medicine where she serves as director of the Kennedy Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute.

Dr. Wrenn holds a master’s degree in health policy research from the University of Pennsylvania and a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.