• Mission
• Our beliefs and values
• Board of Directors
• Advisory Council

DR. JENNIFER ALVIDREZ, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Alvidrez is a nationally recognized expert on ethnic minority mental health and mental health stigma. Her research focuses on access to mental health services among underserved populations, including ethnic minorities, the elderly, and individuals with severe mental illness. She is particularly interested in how stigma acts as a barrier to help-seeking for mental health problems, as well as the development and evaluation of psychoeducational interventions that address stigma. She has conducted studies on stigma reduction interventions for African American populations, and is currently working with the Mental Health Association of San Francisco on a project to develop a consumer-led training about stigma for mental health providers.

She received her B.A. from StanfordUniversity and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed pre- and post-doctoral fellowship training in the Clinical Psychology Training Program and the NIMH Clinical Services Research Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco. She joined the faculty at UCSF in 2001. She serves on the Leadership Council of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco and is a member of the California Mental Health Stigma & Discrimination Reduction Advisory Committee.

ANNI CHUNG
President and CEO, Self Help for the Elderly

Anni Chung has been President and CEO of Self Help for the Elderly since 1981, one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay area. She oversees and manages this community-based nonprofit that provides a comprehensive range of health, education, social and recreational services to over 25,000 senior citizens a year. Self Help employs a staff of 600 with an annual budget of approximately $25 million, serving seniors in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties.

In addition to her chief executive role, Anni is also a member of the Board of Directors of NICOS Chinese Health Coalition and St. Mary’s Medical Center. She is a member of St. Luke’s Hospital Community Task Force. Since 1998 she has been a member of ATT’s Community Partnership Agreement Committee and Verizon’s Community Citizen’s Collaborative which make technology grants to community groups. She is also chairperson of San Francisco’s Digital Inclusion Task Force.

Besides her community involvement, Anni is the Producer and Host of “Cantonese Journal,” a weekly public affairs program on KTSF, the country’s largest Asian-language television station, transmitting to 2.75 million households in 12 languages.

Anni is a graduate of San Francisco State University’s School of Social Work. In 2007 she completed the Leadership America Program, and graduated from the Gallup Leadership Institute and was a National Fellow with the Asian Pacific American Women Leadership Institute.

FLORENCE C. FEE, J.D.
Founder and President, NHMH

Florence. (Flora) Fee has been a mental health advocate for over 20 years. Her determination to make a difference in reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness has been inspired by the courageous struggle of close family members with serious mental disorders, and the dedicated efforts of her family to support, care, and advocate on their behalf. In 2008 she, along with Dr. Douglas Levinson, founded NHMH (No Health without Mental Health) whose mission is to develop diverse communications strategies to educate the public and other audiences on mental illness. The ultimate goal of NHMH is to establish mental health on a parity level with physical health as the two essential components of overall health.

Flora is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and was a member of the Board of Directors of the NAMI San Francisco affiliate from 2005-2008. NAMI is the oldest and largest mental health advocacy organization in the U.S. As Board member and chairman of the external affairs committee, she helped oversee NAMI-SF’s internal management, introduce a new governance structure, develop strategic plans, and lead its mental health advocacy with officials and policy-makers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Flora has had a successful international business career in the global energy industry as a senior executive with Chevron Corporation and Mobil Corporation. As President of Mobil Russia Ventures Inc., she led Mobil’s exploration-productions operations in Russia, based in Moscow, from 1997-2001. Prior to that she was a senior upstream manager in Chevron Overseas Petroleum in the legal and negotiations, strategic planning political risk management and external governmental affairs departments. In those assignments she has lived and worked in Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Angola, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Flora has a J.D. (law) degree from the University of San Francisco, a M.A. from Golden Gate University in International Economics and a B.A. from Manhattanville College in New York in Political Science. She is a licensed member of the California State Bar. She is a native San Franciscan and grew up on the San Francisco Peninsula.

STEPHEN P. HINSHAW, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley

Steve Hinshaw is an international expert on both developmental psychopathology and the stigma of mental illness. His landmark books, which break new ground on the subject and which are reaching wide audiences, include: “The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change” (2007), “Breaking the Silence: Mental Health Professionals Disclose their Personal and Family Experiences of Mental Illness” (2008), and “The Years of Silence are Past: My Father’s Life with Bipolar Disorder” (2002).

In support of his research work, Steve has received multiple research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He is the editor of the journal Psychological Bulletin, the most widely cited journal in the field of psychology, and is Past President of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Steve received the Distinguished Teaching Award of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley in 2001.

Steve has a A.B. from Harvard College, summa cum laude, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA . He was a clinical psychology intern at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and a post-doctoral fellow at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at the University of California San Francisco. He taught in the Psychology Department at UCLA and joined the Berkeley faculty in 1990.

Steve’s work focuses on risk factors for child mental disorders, family and peer relationships, response to medication and psychosocial treatment, and long-term outcomes. He has directed summer research camps and longitudinal (life-span) studies for boys and girls with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) for over twenty-five years. He has authored over 200 articles and reviews on child psychopathology, treatment approaches, and stigma. His latest book, “The Triple Bind: The Hidden Crisis Among Today’s Teenage Girls,” will be published by Random House in early 2009. Over the years, he has integrated his scientific work with emphasizing the importance of disclosure — related to his family’s experiences with severe mental illness — and of fighting stigma.

DOUGLAS F. LEVINSON, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine
Co-Founder, NHMH

Doug Levinson is the co-founder of NHMH. He is a nationally recognized biogenetic specialist and conducts research into genetic factors in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder and practices both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. He has been a leader in organizing large collaborative studies to apply new advances in genetic research to the study of psychiatric disorders.

He is currently a member of the Board of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics as well as being the Walter E. Nichols, M.D. Professor at Stanford Medical School.

Dr. Levinson received an A.B. from Harvard College in Social Relations and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His residency training, in Pediatrics and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, was at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and in General Psychiatry, at Mt. Sinai Hospital, both in New York. After completing a research fellowship at Bronx Psychiatric Center, Doug was a faculty member at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Stanford in 2006.

His commitment to combating the stigma surrounding mental illness has grown out of experiences with patients as well as friends and family members who have coped courageously with mental disorders.

CYNTHIA MOORE, MBA
Public Affairs & Public Relations Consultant

Cynthia Moore is an accomplished marketing expert with more than two decades of experience encompassing integrated marketing campaigns, communications, branding, advertising, grassroots advocacy, media relations and event planning.

Her career has spanned health care, insurance, financial services and high tech communications. Most recently, Cynthia has worked on various projects to help reduce the stigma of mental illness and enhance patient access to services and medicines, inclusive of multicultural communities. She was part of the team that developed the informational guide “Navigating the Currents: A Guide to California’s Public Mental Health System,” a single resource on various topics critical to understanding California’s mental health system. Cynthia’s leadership was also instrumental in the success of programs helping California seniors better understand how to evaluate their health plan options.

Cynthia has a long-term commitment to public service. She is a corporate advisory board member with the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging (C4A); executive committee member with the American Heart Association, Go Red Movement; committee member with the Down Syndrome Information Alliance, Hungry for Life Event; and volunteer, Junior Achievement Leader, Junior Achievement of Sacramento, Inc.

Cynthia earned an M.B.A. in marketing from Golden GateUniversity; a B.A. in journalism and minor in public relations from HumboldtStateUniversity; and a certificate in graphic design from U.C. Davis Extension. A competitive cyclist, she firmly believes that physical fitness and mental fitness are critical to our overall health and well-being.

Robert Villanueva
Health Educator and Trainer

Robert Villanueva is a national trainer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ signature program “in Our Own Voice”. He has helped consumers across the U.S. acquire the skills to be public speakers while sharing their stories of recovery and living with mental illness. As a consumer advocate, Robert is frequently requested to be a guest speaker and representative of the mental health community in media and public forums.

Robert has been a high school wrestling coach, personal trainer, and co-owner of a sports nutrition store. Physical/mental health has always been a driving force in his life. He is now majoring in psychology at Las Positas Community College working to transfer to a major university. Robert was invited to U.C. Berkeley to be on research teams that focused on the stigma of mental illness.

A cover story written by Fulbright scholar Mary O’Hara published in the UK titled “Changing minds UK and US style” mentions Robert stating “I want there to be a discussion….in a church or at a union meeting or on a graduate program. Just a discussion.”

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