IMPACT: Ann has worked for better mental health services ever since seeing children's unmet needs while running a nonprofit two decades ago

Ann is leading a $102 million statewide initiative in which 15 counties and cities are using technology to provide new kinds of mental health services, including online chat for support, virtual avatars for coaching and education, and the use of passive data collected from smartphones or tablets of informed and willing users that may indicate signs of possible developing mental health problems.
ANN’S STORY

IMPACT: Barbara has worked for decades to help people with mental illness get community-based support

Barbara Wilson, a veteran mental health worker with nearly five decades of experience, is glad for the progress California has made in addressing the needs of people with mental illness. At the same time, Wilson, who runs a Santa Clarita-based agency that helps people get treatment, wants the state to rediscover some formulas that once worked well – notably the use of well-funded board and care homes combined with community activities and supports.
BARBARA’S STORY

IMPACT: A tireless innovator of court programs that substitute treatment and accountability for traditional punishment

For over 20 years, Judge Manley locally and nationally has championed the development of special court programs aimed at getting offenders with mental illness, substance use disorders, or both, into treatment and out of jail. He supervises more than 2,300 offenders on probation or parole.
JUDGE MANLEY’S STORY

IMPACT: Marina is leading the $60 million dollar California Reducing Disparities Project to reduce mental health inequities in particular populations

Marina did not set out to work in the mental health arena. The need for counseling and other mental health support was a consistent theme, however, during the decades that Marina worked as an advocate for women crime victims.
MARINA’S STORY

IMPACT: Jeremy is passionate about spreading messages of encouragement and hope about mental health and substance use disorders.

Jeremy oversees contractors working in prevention and early intervention, notably the “Each Mind Matters: California’s Mental Health Movement” campaign to reduce stigma and discrimination, promote student mental health, and prevent suicide.
JEREMY’S STORY

IMPACT: Ahmad strives to make services accessible to diverse groups

Ahmad is leading a new division within the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health that is focused on engagement and ethnic services. AHMAD’S STORY

IMPACT: Jodi works relentlessly to connect homeless people with aid services

Jodi Nerell jumped to help launch Sacramento’s Pathways to Home + Health initiative, a federal pilot program that aims to get them into housing and receiving health care.
JODI’S STORY

IMPACT: Jei, California's first openly transgender county behavioral health director, wants to meet everyone where they are.

Jei wants responsive systems in place to meet everyone where they are, without a lot of barriers to care.

Jei’s story >