Board Officers:

Rebecca Carter, President, BOD 2nd term ends December 31, 2025

Bernice McMillan, Vice-President, BOD 2nd term ends December 31, 2025

Allison Wiman, Secretary, BOD 1st term ends December 31, 2024

Julie Alexander, Treasurer, BOD 1st term ends December 31, 2024

Board Members:

Victoria Carroll, 1st term ends December 31, 2026

Karen Cramer, 1st term ends December 31, 2026

Kristen Bond Dobson, 1st term ends December 31, 2026

Drake Gunning, 2nd term ends December 31, 2026

Alexandra Lawrence, 1st term ends December 31, 2025

Loris McCorvey, 1st term ends December 31, 2024

Kelli Mercer, 1st term ends December 31, 2025

Charlotte Moon, 1st term ends December 31, 2025

Carine Musingo, 1st term ends December 31, 2025

Mitchell Ramsey, 1st term ends December 21, 2026

Katina Smith, 1st term ends December 31, 2026

Board Member Bios:

Dr. Julie Alexander started her career in Botswana, Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer. Upon her return to the United States, she taught art in Texas. Julie moved to Florida and began working at the Florida Department of Education, including serving as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs for the Florida College System. She relocated to Miami where she was the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Miami Dade College and a short period at Polk State College as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Workforce Education. Julie is currently self-employed working as a higher education consultant and teaching a graduate course on higher education finance.

Julie received a doctorate in Higher Education from Florida State University, Master of Education from University of West Florida, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas. She attended Tallahassee Community College, Seminole State College of Florida, Oakland Community College (Michigan), and Dallas College Mountain View Campus (Texas).

Julie lives in Tallahassee with her child, Oriel, and cat, Starman. She enjoys spending time with family, listening to live music, and trail walking.

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Victoria Carroll is a college student who is a Tallahassee native. She graduated from Leon High School as a fourth generation graduate. She enjoys meeting new people as well as spending time with her family and friends. Victoria lived in France for two years and loves to study the language. She has traveled to over 10 countries and has fun immersing herself in other cultures.

In her spare time she enjoys reading and baking. Victoria is excited to begin her work with NAMI and to help others by giving back to her community.

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Rebecca Carter is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist. Ms. Carter earned her graduate degree in Social Work in 2013 and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Social Work in 2012 – both from Florida State University. She is the Tobacco Program Manager for the Area Health Education Center at the Florida State University College of Medicine.

Ms. Carter is responsible for ensuring access to treatment for individuals with mental health or addictions and tobacco dependence co-morbidities. She provides community outreach, technical assistance for mental health clinicians who have been trained as Tobacco Treatment Specialists (TTS), and training for mental health organizations, as well as, facilitates tobacco dependence treatment groups for the local community mental health hospital.

Ms. Carter is also the Staff Advisor for Hang Tough, a student organization on campus, serves on the FSU College of Social Work Field Advisory Committee and on the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Big Bend Steering Committee as the Continuing Education Chair.

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Karen Cramer has her Master of Social Work from Florida State University and has worked in the field for over 20 years. She currently works for Twelve Oaks Recovery Center a treatment facility for substance abuse concerns and co-occurring mental health conditions. She is also an adjunct instructor in the College of Social Work at Florida State University. Karen is a board member for the Big Bend Mental Health Coalition, a work group member for Peace4TheBigBend, involved with the LOSS Team of the Big Bend, and is a representative for Acadia Health on the Mental Health Council of the Big Bend.

She has been involved in the planning of numerous events, conferences, and advocacy efforts in support of mental health awareness and services.

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Kristen Bond Dobson is a local attorney whose practice focuses primarily on health care regulatory matters and administrative litigation. Prior to joining Parker Hudson, she worked as a staff attorney at the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. Kristen obtained both her Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Science degrees from the Florida State University College of Law.

Kristen lives in Tallahassee with her husband and their two cats. In her free time, she enjoys reading and spending time on Florida’s Forgotten Coast.

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Drake Gunning has been working in the mental health field since 2006. He started his career as a Mental Health Assistant, working overnight, while attending Florida A&M University during the day to obtain his B.S degree in Psychology. In this position he had the opportunity to work firsthand with clients who were in crisis by ensuring their needs were met during such a challenging time and keeping them safe.

He has worked various inpatient units such as detox, crisis stabilization units, and forensics. After graduating with his degree in psychology, Drake was then promoted to an outpatient Case Manager position which allowed him to be of service to clients who are living in the community. Drake genuinely enjoyed the opportunity to assist clients by helping them meet their basic needs. Drake also had the opportunity to see how an environment can have an impact on someone’s mental health and emotional status.

Three years later, Drake was promoted to be a supervisor of a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program (PSR). While a supervisor, he worked on obtaining his Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Florida State University. He then became a mental health therapist before being promoted to Assistant Program Director of a mental health agency.

While in the administrative role of Assistant Program Director, Drake continued to provide therapy services to clients. His thirteen years of experience has allowed him to work with various age groups, ethnicities, and populations. Drake has dedicated his life’s work to the mental health field and has used his compassion for people as fuel to develop various ways to provide comprehensive evidenced-based therapeutic services. Currently, Drake is in private practice which is named ‘Anew Life Counseling and Consulting Group, LLC.’

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Alexandra Lawrence is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 45 years of experience.

Alex’s personal statement:

I have worked in a variety of positions throughout my career. For the past 30 years, I was employed by several school districts within the State of New Jersey as a child study team member. In that position, I was part of a team that provided evaluations on adolescents and children that had been referred for special education intervention, as well as providing counseling to students. I was also a part of the Crisis Response Team, working with suicide ideation, mental health issues, family problems.

I have worked with student groups and parenting groups. At the same time, I have a private practice, working with children and families with any family issue. I have worked extensively with the victims and families of children that had experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

I currently sit on the board of GLSEN New Jersey, a national group that provides liaison and education for LGBTQ young people. I have previously sat on a PFLAG Board in Manitoba, Canada. I have presented a brief to the NJ Legislature in an effort to pass a bill for inclusive education.

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Loris McCorvey is a graduate of Florida A&M University with a Master in Social Work and is currently a Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern with Florida. Presently, Mrs. McCorvey serves as ESE Program Specialist for Behavior for the Leon County School District. Prior, Mrs. McCorvey was the Region 2B Project Manager for SEDNET. Earlier, she served as a First Responder Victim Advocate with the Leon County Sheriff Office, a Mental Health ACEs counselor with the Murfreesboro Schools System, and an E/BD Clinical for Miami-Dade Schools.

She is the recipient of the TCC 2018 Visionary Women Champion of Peace and Nonviolence. Mrs. McCorvey serves on the Girls on the Run Board of Directors. She is a trainer for Youth Mental Health First Aid and a Lead Presenter for NAMI’s Ending the Silence, which promotes youths in stopping the stigma of Mental Health. Mrs. McCorvey is married to Kez McCorvey and has four incredible children, Imoni, Kez II, Micah, and Cristian.

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Bernice McMillan is a native of Alexandria, VA with over 25 years of experience in human development, specializing in curriculum design for human service, corporate and government agencies. Bernice currently works for the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, and is a Commissioner on the Commission for Women & Girls.

Bernice has numerous accomplishments and achievements including founding a grassroots 501c3 charitable organization, Divine Revelations Ministries, Inc., which has served over 3,000 inmates in classes, mentoring, and volunteerism efforts. She authored and copyrighted the cognitive-based Control the Fire! ©2015 anger management curriculum which is recognized as a Leon County Court-ordered program, and Domain Program by the Program Clearinghouse of the Florida Department of Corrections.

Additionally, her organization assists the homeless community and individuals in need through various programs and services. Bernice has extensive experience in event planning, and is responsible for coordinating DRMI’s annual community events.

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Kelli Mercer grew up in Louisville, KY and attended Western Kentucky University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Music. She moved to Tallahassee in 2002 where she received her Master’s degree in Music Therapy from Florida State University.

Kelli has worked in healthcare since 2004, with over 10 years in the behavioral health field. Her current community involvement includes the Big Bend Mental Health Coalition, the Mental Health Council of the Big Bend and LOSS Team of the Big Bend. She is passionate about connecting those in need with resources to help improve their health and overall quality of life. Kelli is a proud wife and mother of one daughter and two fur children.

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Charlotte Moon has lived in the Tallahassee area since 1994 and has worked for the State of Florida for 20 years, the last 14 years with the Department of Health. She has volunteered with NAMI Tallahassee since 2017, and has been an active advocate for those living with mental health issues since 1998.

Charlotte’s personal statement:

I have been a parent delegate and member of the Florida Institute for Family Involvement since the early 2000’s. I have been an active member, small group leader, and attendee at Celebrate Recovery in Tallahassee for 13 years. My passion is to help people in need, be it physical, emotional, or mental. I have been an advocate for children and adults, parents learning the disabilities system, ladies coming out of prison back into society, and those battling change to recover from all types of addiction.

My goal as a member of the Board of Directors of NAMI Tallahassee is to further my advocacy through facilitating NAMI Connection meetings, teaching Peer to Peer classes and other NAMI-sponsored classes, and to be active on a state level to effect change and to break the adverse stigma of mental health issues in the workplace. I want to help people know and realize having a mental health diagnosis is not a death sentence or a career killer.

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Carine Musingo is a Registered Clinical Social Work Intern and a Tobacco Treatment Specialist. Ms. Musingo earned her graduate degree in Social Work in 2020 from Florida State University and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 2017. She is the training Specialist at the Area Health Education Center at the Florida State University College of Medicine in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.

Ms. Musingo helps in providing tobacco treatment for tobacco users and ensuring access to treatment for individuals with mental health or addictions and tobacco co-morbidities. Allison Wiman is currently the Executive Director of the Big Bend Area Health Education Center (BBAHEC). Allison, a licensed registered nurse, received a nursing degree from FAMU and a Master of Public Health from FSU. Prior to her election to the NAMI Tallahassee Board, Allison served on the Board of the Guardian ad Litem, Circuit 2 Foundation. Allison, originally from Chicago, has lived in Tallahassee for 25 years and has a long history of volunteer service and community involvement.

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Mitchell Ramsey works as the Program Director for Tallahassee TMS, a local Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) clinic. His first introduction to working with mental health came as a lacrosse coach, where he spent time at James S. Rickards High School, Lawton Chiles High School, and The Maclay School, spanning over 6 years. Before obtaining his B.S. in Psychology from FSU in 2021, he worked as a Mental Health Technician at HCA Florida Capital, where he served on the Behavioral Emergency Response Team, and was recognized with a hospital-wide excellence award. Mitchell also spent time working at The Florida Bar, in which he worked as Program Coordinator for the Center for Professionalism and the Diversity/Inclusion programs, as well as with their subsequent committees.

Prior to taking on the role of TMS Program Director, Mitchell was first introduced to the treatment as a TMS Technician, and now strives to further educate the public on everything TMS. While Mitchell still coaches youth travel lacrosse, he enjoys trail walking with his two dogs, Ozzie and Otter, and binging the newest TV series with his cat, Dublin.

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Katina Smith, originally from Hollywood, Florida, moved to Tallahassee in 1991. She received her B. A. in Elementary Education and M.A. in Education from Florida A&M University. Throughout her career, she has served as an instructional coach, Dean of Students and is currently a Reading and Math interventionist in Leon County Schools. Katina has also served as program director for two Early Childhood programs and has held various leadership positions on several committees throughout her career. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time reading, attending sporting events and spending time with her family. She has been married for 25 years to her husband, Michael, and has four children, Mikayla, Michael, Mykenzi, and Mykenon.

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Allison Wiman is currently the Executive Director of the Big Bend Area Health Education Center (BBAHEC). Allison, a licensed registered nurse, received a nursing degree from FAMU and a Master of Public Health from FSU. Prior to her election to the NAMI Tallahassee Board, Allison served on the Board of the Guardian ad Litem, Circuit 2 Foundation. Allison, originally from Chicago, has lived in Tallahassee for 25 years and has a long history of volunteer service and community involvement.

Staff

While NAMI Tallahassee depends heavily on volunteer efforts, particularly with our program leaders, we have two part-time staff: Cindy Foster, our Director of Programs, and Jaclyn Tipton, our Director of Marketing and Development. Executive Director Nancy O’Farrell is a volunteer.

Past Presidents

Name

Rebecca Carter

Karen Cramer

Kelli Mercer

Nancy O’Farrell

Matt Liebenhaut

Pat Stephens

Rose Ann Scheck

Mary Bowers

Colin Haley

Faye Barnette

Doug Knowles

Dayle Coxen

Ron Reynolds

Mimi Livingston

David Greenberg

Mimi Livingston

Sylvia Howell

Betty Arnold

Faye Barnette

Year

2023 – present

2021-2022

2020

2019

2015-2018

2014

2012-13

2011

2010

2008-09

2006-07

2005

2004

2000-03

2002

1997-98

1995-96

1994-95

1989-93