INclude has gathered a team and board with extensive experience in mental health, advocacy, law, policy, technology and best practice services around the world. What binds us together is our outrage at the discrimination and poor treatment faced every day by millions of people trying to access the U.S. mental health system. Our commitment is to work toward a world where everyone who needs it has access to an informed, unbiased navigator to help empower their mental health decision making.
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Judith E. KleinExecutive Director
Judith E. Klein is a human rights lawyer who founded and directed the Mental Health Initiative (MHI) at the Open Society Foundations for 25 years, from 1995-2019. Under her leadership, the program worked in 27 countries, moving thousands of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities out of locked institutions and into the community with support. Community-based housing was one of the most successful programs recognized by the WHO as the best practice alternative for mental health challenges.
Judith has extended her mission to the US, focusing on the rapidly growing mental health challenges post-Covid. She is piloting the Mental health GPS program in Western North Carolina with a diverse team of professionals to address a major gap in the system - the absence of informed navigation to connect people in need to appropriate services. Before working at the Foundations, Klein litigated on behalf of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in the United States. She has a BA in Justice from the American University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami. |
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Benedict CareySenior Advisor
Benedict Carey is a journalist who covered mental health for 30 years, mostly at the Los Angeles Times 1999-2004) and the New York Times (2004-2021). His work has won multiple reporting awards, including the Association of Mental Health Journalists feature writing (2011) for the "Lives Restored" series profiling the lives of five people living with severe mental distress.
In 2016, he won the Erik Erikson Award, for an expose of abusive mental health treatment in West Africa. He was a co-winner in 2021 of a Gerald Loeb Award for reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic. He has written two science-based novels for young adults, "Island of the Unknowns" and "Poison Most Vial;" and a non-fiction book about the science of learning, "How We Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where, and Why it Happens." |
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Keris Jän MyrickSenior Advisor
Keris Jän Myrick 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 with over 15 years of experience in mental health services innovations, transformation, and peer workforce development. Myrick is an in-demand national trainer and keynote speaker, authored several peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters and in June 2021, was the recipient of Mental Health America’s highest honor the Clifford W. Beers Award. Ms. Myrick’s personal story was featured in the New York Times series: Lives Restored, which told the personal narratives of several professionals living with mental health issues. Myrick is also known for her collaborative style and innovative “whole person” approach to mental health care and is a podcast host of “Unapologetically Black Unicorns” which centers on lived experience, race equity and mental health change agents. Ms. Myrick is Vice President of Partnerships at Inseparable and most recently was the Co- Director of The Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative (S2i). She is on the board of directors for Mental Health of America (MHA) and National Association of Peer Supporters (N.A.P.S.) as their policy liaison. Myrick previously held positions as the Chief, Peer and Allied Health Professions for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, 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), President and CEO of Project Return Peer Support Network, a Los Angeles-based, peer-run nonprofit and the Board President of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Ms. Myrick a Certified Personal Medicine Coach and Certified Therapeutic Game Master; has a Master of Science degree in industrial organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University. Her Master of Business Administration degree is from Case Western University’s Weatherhead School of Management. |
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Dustin HennekaCertified Peer Support Specialist
Dustin Henneka is a Certified Peer Support Specialist and is pursuing his Master's Degree in Social Work at the University of Kentucky. He graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Education, earning certification as a K-6 teacher and ESOL instructor. Dustin taught for several years in the Florida educational system and has extensive experience working with children of all ages in the classroom.
Through his own experience in recovery, Dustin recognized his passion for helping others navigate the overwhelming landscape of mental health and substance use treatment. His personal and professional experience in the mental health and substance abuse fields gives him a unique approach when helping others. He is excited to be a part of such an innovative team striving to improve access to support and services. |
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Matt BanchiereMental Health Navigator
Matt Banchiere is a trained mental health navigator who studied business management at Duquesne University. He worked as a sales manager in both the pollution control and solar power industries, while taking college courses in IT and data management. He brings advanced tech skills to the team.
In his own experience in recovery, Matt had to learn his way around the labyrinthine mental health and substance use systems - and became determined to help others do the same. His personal and professional experience give him enormous credibility and compassion when helping others. |