Speakers
Friday, June 12
"Celebrating the Legacy, Forging the Future"
Tipper Gore
Tipper Gore is the wife of Vice President Al Gore. She is a well-known advocate for families, women and children and an active proponent of healthy living and healthy lives. Her work has focused on issues such as mental health, children's health, education, homelessness and physical fitness. Her health focus has encompassed a variety of issues, including mental illness, AIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, lead poisoning, and youth physical fitness. She has worked to promote education, awareness and prevention of risky behaviors in youth and adolescents and has spoken out about the need to de-stigmatize mental and physical disabilities.
A major advocate for the homeless, Mrs. Gore co-founded and chaired Families for the Homeless in 1986, a non-partisan partnership of families that raises public awareness of homeless issues. She forged a partnership with Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association) to produce a major photographic exhibit entitled "Homeless in America: A Photographic Project," which toured the nation.
Her long-standing interest in mental health issues have brought her to the forefront of this issue. As Mental Health Policy Advisor to President Clinton, Tipper Gore committed her efforts to eradicating the stigma associated with mental illness. She has worked tirelessly to educate Americans about the need for quality, affordable mental health care. Regarded by many as one of the most visible advocates for mental health care services nationwide, she has served as a vocal proponent for the parity of mental health benefits with those of health benefits under medical insurance plans. She has also worked closely with the Administration to ensure the inclusion of mental health services in health care policy, such as the Children's Health Initiative.
Prior to the Clinton/Gore Administration taking office, she worked with a variety of mental health advocacy groups. In 1990, she founded Tennessee Voices for Children, a coalition to promote the development of services for children and youth with serious behavioral, emotional, substance abuse, or other mental health problems. She also served as co-chair of the Child Mental Health Interest Group, a non-partisan group of Congressional and Administration spouses.
Tipper Gore has also served as Chair of the National Youth Fitness Campaign of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports with the goal of promoting youth physical fitness and educating Americans, particularly young girls, about the positive physical and mental benefits to fitness and physical activity.
Tipper received her B.A. degree in Psychology from Boston University and in 1975, received a Master's Degree in Psychology from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.
"American’s Opinions on Health Care"
Robert O. Boorstin
Bob Boorstin is Director of Corporate and Policy Communications in the Washington D.C. office of Google, where he helps design and implement the company’s strategies on a wide range of domestic and international policy issues. Mr. Boorstin, 49, has more than 25 years of experience in political communications, national security, public opinion research and journalism. He served for more than seven years in the Clinton Administration, with positions including the president’s chief speechwriter at the National Security Council and senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He helped establish the Washington-based think tank, the Center for American Progress, and has served as communications and political advisor to party leaders and leading government officials in the U.S. and Europe. Since 1987, when he was diagnosed with manic depression, Mr. Boorstin has been an outspoken activist and advocate on behalf of people with mental illness.
Lisa Davis
Lisa K. Davis currently serves as Director of AARP’s Divided We Fail Campaign, which demands solutions from presidential candidates, members of Congress and business and civic leaders on the issues of healthcare and lifetime financial security for all Americans. Lisa brings nearly 15 years of experience in the public policy and advocacy arena. Prior to joining AARP, Lisa spent 7 years at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare as the Senior Policy Analyst for income security issues, including Social Security, pensions, tax and budget issues and helped develop and implement Social Security information programs targeted towards women, minorities and other stakeholders. She has also worked on the hill for former Representative Pat Williams and with the Whitman-Walker clinic's legal services department. Lisa received her J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University and her B.A. in English Literature and French from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Bill McInturff
Bill McInturff is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, a national political and public affairs survey research firm that has completed more than 4 million interviews with voters and consumers in all fifty states and over a dozen foreign countries, and conducted more than 3,500 focus groups. Called by The New York Times, "the leading Republican polling company," Public Opinion Strategies currently represents nineteen U.S. Senators, eight governors, and over 50 Members of Congress. Bill is actively engaged in American politics, conducting national survey research on behalf of the Republican Governors Association. Bill also served as the lead pollster for John McCain’s Presidential Campaign. The focus of much of Bill's work has been health care—he has conducted groundbreaking research on Medicare reform, creating Social Security private retirement accounts, juvenile justice reform, genetic testing, school choice, tort reform, health care policy, and a host of other policy issues. Bill is a frequently quoted source on the topic of American politics. He has appeared on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and is frequently quoted in a variety of national news magazines and major newspapers.
"Health Care Reform: Forging the Future"
Chris Jennings
Chris Jennings is a health policy veteran of the White House, Congress and the private sector. He currently serves as president of Jennings Policy Strategies (JPS), Inc., a nationally-respected health policy and advocacy consulting firm that provides policy analysis, strategic guidance and coalition building advice to clients who share a commitment to affordable, accessible and accountable health care. Prior to founding JPS, Inc., Mr. Jennings served in the White House as the Senior Health Care Advisor to President William Jefferson Clinton. During his tenure there, Mr. Jennings made significant contributions toward the enactment of major, bipartisan health legislation including the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Mental Health Parity Act, the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act, the Work Incentives Improvement Act, and the tripling of funding for international AIDS programs for prevention, care, treatment and health infrastructure. Recognizing his work at the White House, the National Journal designated Mr. Jennings as one of Washington's 100 most influential individuals throughout the entire Federal government. Before working in the Clinton Administration, Mr. Jennings served as Committee staff for three United States Senators and coordinated legislative initiatives on health insurance affordability and access, long-term care, rural health, and prescription drug coverage and cost containment.
"Keynote Luncheon: A Conversation with George Stephanopoulos"
George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos is the Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News and anchor of ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
As Chief Washington Correspondent, Stephanopoulos oversees the network's coverage of presidential and Congressional politics and reports on political and policy stories for all ABC News platforms, including "World News with Charles Gibson," "Nightline," "Good Morning America" and ABC News' digital properties, including ABCNews.com and ABC News Now.
During the 2008 primary election cycle, Stephanopoulos interviewed every major Republican and Democratic candidate, and conducted multiple interviews with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. In August 2007 Stephanopoulos moderated separate debates for the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates in Des Moines, Ia., the only two Sunday morning debates of the primary cycle. Stephanopoulos also moderated a Democratic debate with ABC News' Charles Gibson in Philadelphia in April 2008.
Prior to joining ABC News, Stephanopoulos served in the Clinton administration as the senior adviser to the president for policy and strategy. He is the author of "All Too Human," a No. 1 New York Times best-seller on President Clinton's first term and the 1992 and 1996 Clinton/Gore campaigns.
Stephanopoulos received his Master's degree in theology from Balliol College, Oxford University, England, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude in political science.
"Innovations in Research and Treatment"
Ronald Kessler, Ph.D.
Ronald Kessler is a Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Kessler’s research deals broadly with the social determinants of mental health and illness as studied from an epidemiological perspective. He is the author of over 500 publications and the recipient of many awards for his research, including Senior Scientist and MERIT awards from the National Institute of Mental Health. Kessler has been the most widely cited researcher in the field of psychiatry in the world for each of the last nine years. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and was the first psychiatric epidemiologist ever elected to membership in the National Academies of Science. Kessler also led the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey, the first nationally representative survey of the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in the US. He is also the co-director of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative, a series of comparative community epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of mental disorders, patterns of help seeking, and barriers to treatment for these disorders in 28 countries around the world. He is the Director of the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group. In addition to his epidemiological studies, Kessler is involved in evaluating new programs for the prevention and treatment of mental illness in high-risk segments of the population.
Saturday, June 13
"The Next Generation of Mental Health: Leadership and Technology"
Ross Szabo
Ross Szabo is the Director of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC). Ross uses his personal experience with mental disorders to raise awareness and provide a positive example for young people nationwide. During the past six years, Ross is the only person in the country who has spoken directly to over 700,000 young people in high schools and colleges about mental health issues and the importance of combating the stereotypes that surround mental health. He was named the 2007 Best Male Performer of the Year and 2006 Rising Star Speaker of the Year by Campus Activities Magazine which recognized him as one of the best speakers in the country on the college speaking circuit. Ross has participated with Mrs. Tipper Gore and former Surgeon General, David Satcher, in “Healing the American Spirit: A Town Hall Meeting of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign,” which focused on the mental health issues surrounding the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on America. Ross has also been a guest on numerous radio and television networks. The Buffalo, NY PBS affiliate WNED turned his high school presentation in to a television program called “What’s on Your Mind.” Ross’s book, Behind Happy Faces; Taking Charge of Your Mental Health A Guide for Young Adults, came out in August of 2007 and is being used as curriculum in high schools and colleges nation-wide.
David Nickelson
Dr. David Nickelson -- a clinical psychologist and attorney by training -- has worked in the Internet space for over a decade. Upon being awarded an AAAS/APA Congressional Science Fellowship in 1995, he began serving the Hon. Sen. Kent Conrad (D- ND), and stewarded the Senator’s co-chairmanship of the bipartisan Congressional Steering Committee on Telehealth, bringing a wide range of educational and interactive technology programs directly to Capitol Hill. He also developed, promoted and helped pass legislation creating a Medicare payment process for health care services provided to rural communities via telecommunications.
In 1997, he joined the American Psychological Association Practice Directorate, where he developed and launched a series of professional, consumer, and business web portals to support practicing psychologists, patient/clients, and the business community. Drawing on his legal and regulatory experience, Dr. Nickelson also developed and launched a series of online tools that help practicing psychologists comply with HIPAA regulations and requirements.
An expert on internet strategy and operations, as well as the integration and interaction between law, regulations, and human behavior on the Internet, Dr. Nickelson joined the American Diabetes Association’s Internet Strategy & Operations team in January 2007.
Lawrence Clarence Patrick, III
Lawrence Patrick III is President and CEO of Inspire USA Foundation, which funds the creation of innovative, youth-driven tools and services to help young people who are experiencing tough times or mental health difficulties transform their lives, including video games, mobile messaging applications and Web sites, such as its flagship online community, reachout.com.
Before coming to Inspire, Mr. Patrick served as Director of Business Development and Strategy for Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he led strategy for new media, content distribution, intellectual property and corporate partnerships for the jazz world’s largest organization.
An experienced social sector leader, Mr. Patrick previously led the Black Alliance for Educational Options and launched several successful multi-city grassroots mobilization campaigns to support and expand parental choice for low-income parents and launched a national network of charter schools.
Before assuming the presidency of BAEO, he co-founded the Megaschool company to help inner-city charter schools make better use of technology by providing them with innovative teacher training and on-site network infrastructure support.
Mr. Patrick has also worked for Knight Ridder, Mercury Center and the Detroit Free Press, where he was the youngest reporting intern and was named Apprentice of the Year by the paper’s top editors.
A nationally recognized advocate for education, Mr. Patrick has served on the Board of Directors of the National Charter Schools Institute; the Washington, D.C., Public Charter School Board; and the Charter School Leadership Council, where he served as its Chairman. He has also participated in the UNESCO Education Committee, the Australian American Leadership Dialogue and sits on the Advisory Committee for the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University
A native of Detroit, Mr. Patrick is an honors graduate of Cass Tech and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cass Tech Alumni Association.
"Addressing the Mental Health Needs of America’s Veterans"
Mark Benjamin
Mark Benjamin is an award-winning investigative reporter with Salon.com’s Washington bureau. Since 2001, Benjamin has focused on national security issues with an emphasis on the plight of returning veterans and detainee abuse. He was hailed for exposing problems caring for veterans at Walter Reed starting in early 2005 and also obtained for Salon the Army’s entire Abu Ghraib investigative files. Benjamin has been a consultant for CBS’ 60 Minutes, a freelance on-air reporter for CNN and has appeared on all of the major television networks. His investigative reporting techniques have been chronicled in the Nieman Reports for The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Benjamin is the winner of a Raymond Clapper Memorial Award for the best reporting from Washington, a Fourth Estate Award from the American Legion, a Mental Health Media Award from the National Mental Health Association, an Outstanding Media Coverage Award from the National Gulf War Resource Center, a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism, a Project Censored Award and was twice a finalist for the Online News Association’s Online Journalism Awards. He previously worked at UPI.
Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, M.D.
Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton is a psychiatrist who has served in the Army for 20 years in the United States and abroad. Her extensive leadership experience encompasses a diverse mix of domains-civilian and military; combat and peacekeeping; command and staff; clinical and academic; as well as policy and education. In her current position as director of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Sutton also serves as special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Sutton also served as: a White House fellow and special assistant to the director of the Office of the National Drug Control Program; assistant professor of psychiatry and a disaster medicine consultant at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; chief of inpatient psychiatry at the William Beaumont Medical Center; and division psychiatrist for the 1st Armored Division. Sutton has served in three locations abroad: Germany; in Iraq in the first Gulf War; and with the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai, Egypt. She has received numerous awards during her career, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Order of Military Medical Merit.
Matt Kuntz
Matt served as in infantry officer in the Army and was recognized as Distinguished Member of the Thirty Fifth Regiment for his service. Matt was practicing corporate law in Helena when his step-brother, a Montana National Guardsmen who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, committed suicide. Spurred on by his step-brother's death, Matt began advocating for effective screening and treatment of post traumatic stress injuries of our returning service members. Matt's advocacy efforts on behalf of Montana's service members and their families were documented in the book, Faces of Combat: PTSD & TBI. Matt was also recognized by President Obama in his inauguration festivities as one of 18 Ordinary Americans Who Have Made an Extraordinary Difference. In June of 2008, Matt took on the role of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for Montana's (NAMI Montana's) Executive Director in order to support, educate, and advocate for all Montanans suffering from mental illness and their families. Matt received his bachelor's degree from West Point and his law degree from the University of Oregon.