Mental Health

Active Minds Chapter President  |  Sep 2023 - May 2024

• I served as chapter president for the Active Minds program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) during my Senior year of college, hosting various wellness workshops, advocacy days, and an Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention.  However, after the club began advocating for policy changes, the school responded by banning them from campus under threat of legal action.  Since then, I have continued to fight for student mental health both at my school and in higher education as a whole.
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National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)  |  Apr 2022 - Present

• NAMI​ Connections Peer Facilitator  |  Apr 2022 - Present

  • I became a trained NAMI Connections Peer Facilitator and hosted student-led support groups at my school from 2022-2024.  After NAMI was prohibited from campus,​ I turned to hosting this program at other colleges throughout the region, and am currently working directly with the University at Albany, Russell Sage College, Union College, Maria College, and Hudson Valley Community College.

• NAMI National NextGen Community of Practice  |  Jun 2024 - Dec 2024

  • I was accepted into the inaugural ​NAMI NextGen Community of Practice, a national network of youth mental health leaders to encourage collaboration and continued involvement in mental health advocacy and programs.  Through my involvement in NAMI NextGen, I was subsequently invited to join the Mental Health America Expanding Impact Network.

• NAMI Capital Region NY Board of Directors  |  Aug 2024 - Present

  • I officially​ joined my local NAMI affiliate's Board of Directors in August 2024.  In this role, I oversaw the 2024 NYS Capital Region Mental Health Week Program, a multi-county community initiative which brought together 11 universities and over 100 health and human service organizations to offer more than 65 individual events throughout New York's Capital Region.

• NAMI New York State Youth Advisory Committee  |  Jan 2025 - Present

  • Most recently, I was appointed to the NAMI New York State Youth Advisory Committee, where I am working directly with state leaders to advance NAMI's programs and advocate for improved policies surrounding mental health, particularly among youth populations.
     

2023 RPI Mental Health Week Program  |  October 2023

• I restarted my school's Mental Health Week Program in 2023 during National Mental Illness Awareness Week.  This program brought together 50 campus and community organizations to provide students with nearly 100 hours' worth of individual events and activities, all as part of a collaborative effort to promote resources and destigmatize mental health on campus.  After RPI revoked their support of this program, I have since expanded it into a community-based effort in partnership with hundreds of other colleges and organizations.
   

MHANYS Annual Mental Health Matters Day  |  March 2024

• I attended the annual Mental Health Matters Day at the state capital, hosted by MHANYS (the Mental Health Association in New York State) in partnership with AFSP Capital Region (the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention).  Through this incredible program I was able to connect with legislators and advocates throughout the state, as well as participate in a rally advocating for improved mental health policy.
   

Global Mental Health Peer Network  |  Sep 2024 - Present

• I was appointed​ to the GMHPN Country Leadership Committee as a U.S. Representative in September 2024.  I have had the opportunity to collaborate with mental health leaders across the world in a number of programs, including helping to plan the first international Youth Agents 4 Change Mental Health Summit, and providing feedback to the International Transformation Resilience Coalition (a member of the United Nations Climate Change Race to Resilience Campaign) on their action plan for addressing the global climate change and mental health crises.  This November I will be attending the 7th Global Mental Health Summit in South Africa.
   

PLOS Mental Health Journal Lived Experience Focus Group  |  Feb 2025 - Present

• I was appointed to the Lived Experience Focus Group for the PLOS Mental Health Journal (formerly the Public Library of Science), where I review and provide feedback on academic papers submitted to the journal based on my personal experience as an individual living with mental illness.
   

2nd International Rethinking Mental Health Care Conference  |  February 2025

• I recently had the incredible honor of attending the 2nd International Rethinking Mental Health Care Conference, hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  This program had an incredible array of outstanding speakers from all over the globe, and I am so thankful for the scholarship I received from the Mental Health Innovation Network to be able to attend.
   

2025 New York State Mental Health Week Program  |  October 2025

• Given the continued success of my Mental Health Week Program, I am now expanding it into a statewide initiative for 2025 in direct partnership with NAMI-NYS, NAMI National, and Active Minds National.  Among the many events we have planned includes a screening of the award-winning mental health film Good Side of Bad, followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers.  Stay tuned for more information about this exciting program!