Meet Your Board Members
WELCOME NEW NAMI WESTSIDE-LA OFFICERS!
“As your NAMI President, I want to welcome the incredible slate of Officers to coordinate and expand NAMI Westside Los Angeles.”
President: Sharon Dunas, MFT
Sharon Dunas is the current president of NAMI-Westside LA. She has been in private practice in Brentwood for over twenty years. Sharon’s expertise is in treating individuals, couples and family systems. She specializes in multi-generational addictive family systems, treating co-dependency and addictive behaviors. She has worked extensively with the National Alliance on Mental Illness since 1996.
Sharon is the Coordinator for the NAMI Provider Course for Clinician’s. She has offered this course at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology of LA, Pepperdine University, Didi Hirsch, Ken Edwards Center in Santa Monica and the San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center. This course utilizes the strength of family members and consumers in developing best treatment practices. This NAMI course teaches clinician’s not to exclude the families in developing treatment plans. Sharon is also a Family to Family State Trainer. She trains family members to teach the 12 week psycho-biological-social Family to Family class. Sharon coordinates and provides for two speaker meetings each month for NAMI Westside LA.
Sharon has also been President’s of the NAMI Presidents of Los Angeles County (LACCC). This county wide organization handles all the matters of NAMI programs throughout Los Angeles County. Sharon has been given the following awards for her work with the mentally ill: Leadership Award NAMI California 2004; Elizabeth Hartigan Award for Recovery for People with Mental Illness
Family Advocate Award for Helping Families with Mental Illness in their Midst – the Dept of Mental Health -
Los Angeles Humility Recognition Award – Sierra Tuscon – 2009
Sharon’s Vision for the Future
I have a vision, a vision that NAMI can reach all of those that are isolated and lost in fear because mental illness has struck a loved one. To reach more people we need to expand the things that NAMI does best! We will expand our amazing NAMI Family to Family Educationclasses. We have one starting at the West Side Mental Health Center and one in West LA and Beverly Hills in the fall. We are hoping to get Family to Family to reach foster families also. We will continue to have trainings of, In Your Own Voice, so that consumers can go to other organizations and talk about the effects of mental illness and the road to recovery. We will continue to have Stigma Busters, under the leadership of Stella March, which calls our media on inappropriate slurs against people with mental illness. They have called Dr. Phil on major oversights on his show.
“I have a vision that will bring the self-help recovery movement to more consumers and more family members.”
At the NAMI Convention, August 2004, in San Francisco I was given a booklet called Peer 2 Peer. Peer 2 Peer is free, but it requires a 9 week commitment to complete the course. The class is based on the idea that living with mental illness is a traumatic experience and that recovery takes place in predictable stages.
This is what it teaches: Have respect for individual choices; We have much in common; we are the experts on us; each of us decides his own path and there are many paths, not just one way to do things Topics like medications and diagnoses are among those discussed. Tools to manage the real world, like coping skills and relationship management are presented. Consumers are taught that their families are their allies and not the enemy.
All we need is $10,000 to bring NAMI Peer 2 Peer to Los Angeles. They have it in San Diego and they could probably provide the trainers to train people here.
I have a vision that jail diversion programs will become a reality! It was in 1969 that many of our state institutions were closed and the ill men and woman were put on the streets. In 2004, in California, 84% of the confined mentally ill are in jail and only 16% are in hospitals. A goal of NAMI has to be to institute a jail diversion program where offenders could go through a lower-level judicial system separate from the jail/prison system.
Of course, I could go and on and on, but I want to share with you the vision of the outstanding slate of officers that are also representing NAMI.
David Wright
David’s commitment to NAMI-Westside LA derives from 51 years of dealing with severe mental illness in several close family members. David holds degrees in both civil engineering and law, and practiced corporate law with Latham & Watkins and other major Los Angeles law firms for over 13 years before going into the investment management field. He is a founder and Managing Director of Sierra Investment Management, Inc., Santa Monica. David has served as an active member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors, a nonprofit educational organization, for over 20 years. David, along with the NAMI Board of Directors, is presently rewriting the NAMI-LA by-laws, arranging with the state to incorporate, providing for insurance for our Board of Officers and developing our wrap-around business plan for 2005-2006.
David’s Vision for the Future
As I think you know, there is a huge opportunity for us to provide education and peer support to many hundreds of families in Los Angeles who are affected by mental illness. Two years ago, I found the Family to Family Education program to be very informative and helpful. I’ve also benefited from the peer support and excellent speakers at NAMI-Westside LA I’m committed to helping Sharon to modernize and expand the services offered by NAMI. I will also help develop a business plan for NAMI. We plan to expand our membership, to train dozens more volunteers and to launch some serious fund raising. This will help us develop some effective publicity to help families find us. I am also committed to develop a NAMI-Westside LA Website and make information convenient for our members through e-mail.
Most honored Board Member: Stella March
Our own Stella March graduated Hunter College cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a major in English/Journalism. After graduation Stella took graduate courses in psychology at UCLA.
Stella, along with Don Richardson, co-led the mental health mobilization of Los Angeles, way back in 1979, which seeded our county, state and national organizations. Stella was the founder and first president of NAMILA, later renamed NAMI Westside LA. She served as the vice president of the NAMI national board of directors from 1990-1994. Stella leads our ”In Our Own Voice” program and is the national coordinator for Stigma Busters, among many other things.
Stella has written radio interviews, PR releases, and advertising copy. She also worked at the LA Unified School District training recent immigrant parents of diverse cultures on how to discuss their children’s problems with teachers
Stella founded the Los Angeles Coordinating Counsel (LACCC) which meets with the Department of Mental Health to network and discuss legislative advocacy and other related issues.
Stella has confronted mental health issues of all kinds and on all fronts and has received many awards honoring her work and dedication to the mentally ill and their families. She has been honored by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, the County Commission on Mental Health and many many more. Stella’s most prized award was received at the NAMI National Convention in San Francisco in 2009, where she received the most prestigious : “Distinguished Service Award” in front of thousands of attendees
Stella’s Vision for the future
Stella would like to see a comprehensive community care to be developed as an integrated system of treatment and services for mentally ill children, adults and seniors
BOARD MEMBER: Lou Goldsmith
Lou is a real estate broker with his wife Beanie Goldsmith in Sherman Oaks. Lou became very involved in NAMI because of bipolar disorder in his family. He has taught 13 NAMI Family to Family classes. He has also trained future teachers at state NAMI Family to Family teacher trainings. Lou has also helped facilitate the NAMI Family to Family Support Group for the last 10 years, and participated in NAMI Walks. Lou has designed our NAMI-Westside LA web site which is up and running. Lou presents “What Can NAMI Do for You” talks at clinics and DMH in the Los Angeles area. Lou has been an incredible source of strength and knowledge for family members. He has also been a NAMI Family to Family Advisory board member and taught the NAMI providers course.
Lou’s vision for the future
As a NAMI Family to Family state trainer and teacher for many years, I know that “knowledge is empowerment.” I also know “you cannot know what you don’t know”. So many of us feel guilt and shame about the mistakes we made with our mentally ill relatives. Once you learn the knowledge offered by the Family to Family Education class, you won’t make the same mistakes again. The important thing is to forgive yourself for the times you did not know what to do and perhaps were not helpful.
Corresponding Secretary: Roberta Howard
Roberta Howard is a trained NAMI Family to Family teacher and has run a support group for families at “Step Up On Second” for several years. She has also taken over Mary Lee Westbrook’s Support Group for NAMI at the Ed Edelman Center. Roberta has worked diligently for several years supporting families who have a mentally ill child. She is presently the Corresponding Secretary for NAMI-Westside LA She has also been an active member of the NAMI Family to Family Advisory Council. Roberta worked as a special educator for the LA City Schools for many years. She has been a board member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Board of Education Member of Temple Akiba of Culver City , Board of Step Up On 2nd, and NAMI Family to Family Advisory Council.
Roberta’s Vision for the Future:
I know that I feel empowered when I keep learning. By being with other family members who are also struggling with mental illness in a child or relative, I continue to learn and grow. I feel alive, knowing that my life experience with my ill child may be of benefit to other parents. I enjoy being of service as a support group leader for families where mental illness strikes.
Board Member: Shelley Hoffman
Shelley Hoffman is an Interior Design Consultant in West Los Angeles. She became involved in NAMI after her oldest of three children came home from a top notch college for a holiday weekend in a psychotic state, needing to be hospitalized. She is a trained NAMI Family to Family teacher and Provider Course teacher. She is also Manager for this year’s walkathon, NAMIWALKS for the Mind of America. Shelley raised extensive funds for previous NAMIWALKS, and spoke to several groups to help fight stigma and raise public awareness.
Shelley’s Vision for the Future
I want to be supportive and create hope for my son who suffers with mental illness as well as my family and others, and that is why I have made NAMI part of my life. I am enraged with insurance companies and their exclusionary policies to not pay for treatment for people with brain disorders, in the same manner they do, in fact, pay for treatments and hospitalizations for people with other medical conditions like a heart condition or kidney disease. It is wrong to place such burdens on the families of the mentally ill. It is wrong to treat people with severe mental illness as if it were their fault they are sick, and to relegate many to living in conditions the public would not tolerate for their animals. There are far too few decent board and cares, IMD’s, supportive jobs programs for people living with mental illness. I am involved in NAMI because I can be with others who understand the struggles we face, for the support it offers, for the positive collaboration of working with others to build a more tolerant and educated world.
Board Member: Dr. Lynn Brody
Dr. Lynn Brody has had three appointments from Stanford University ; two were from the National Institute of Health as a Post Doctoral Scholar and one as a visiting scholar. Her understanding of group dynamics can only help to shape the future of NAMI-Westside LA in a positive way. Lynn is committed to bringing the NAMI Provider Course to universities, hospitals, clinicians and psychiatrists in the LA area.
NAMI-Westside LA Liaison to NAMI-California: Responsibilities: To be NAMI’s active liaison to the NAMI California Board. Attends SAACC meetings. She reports regularly to NAMI-LA on the progress of these city and state wide agencies, clinics, and mental health organizations. Represents NAMI-LA’s position at NAMI state and national meetings.
Lynn’s Vision for the Future
“I was powerless when my son developed a mental illness. I went to an eminent psychiatrist and asked him if NAMI would be of any help to me. He said, “No, they wouldn’t be able to help me it all.” Well, I dragged myself to a NAMI Family to Family class, fearful that all the people would be nothing like me. The NAMI Family to Family class was and continues to be the most helpful experience I have had to help my son. I learned about brain biology, about medications, about how to talk to my son, about how to do limit setting and how to keep the channels of empathy flowing toward him. I am committed to spreading the word of NAMI for the rest of my life.”
Board Member: Janis M. Frisch, PHD
Janis is a licensed marriage & family therapist. She has been in private practice since 1980. She is a staff therapist for the Isaiah House in Hollywoold, which is a residential rehabilitation center for the homeless. For the past 9 years Janis has also been a board member for St Vincent De Paul Society, which is an international Charity. She also chairs the homeless feeding program for St Vincent De Paul. The very busy Janis Frisch is also a Board member of Lin, Bierstedt & Associates, which is a nonprofit organization supporting research projects relating to arts and healing.
Irene Pazirandeh: Treasurer
BOARD MEMBER: Rosina Ehrlich
I have been a teacher, a school-wide facilitator, a high school principal, a Director of Special Programs, and finally a community college administrator. I hold a Master’s in Educational Administration. The school environment was my home for 22 years before I took a “break” eleven years ago to become a realtor. I still teach part-time at the community college level, but only one or two classes per year. I have been a NAMI family member since 2003. My only child tried to commit suicide twice when his father suddenly died of a heart attack, wound up hurting me the second time when he tried again to end his life. That act threw us into a roller coaster of events that propelled me into the word of mental illness. Our journey to reach recovery and have a new and healthy life could not have been possible without NAMI. My son had been ill since about 9, but thank God, he is doing very well and that has given me a passion for having others be educated about mental illness and to be part of NAMI in order to help themselves or their loved ones.
I have been a Family to Family teacher for both English and Spanish since 2003, a Provider Trainer since 2004 and an English and Spanish Family to Family State Trainer since 2008. I currently coordinate the Spanish programs for NAMI Westside LA which include the De Familia a Familia classes, the Spanish Support Groups, and the Persona a Persona classes. I am currently a member of the consortium for Mental Health and Schools Act for Congresswoman Grace Napolitano and was on the Governor’s Advisory Board for Patton State Hospital from 2003 to 2007. I was one of three founding members of the NAMI Criminal Justice Committee back in 2004 until I resigned to leave for Spain in 2007. I returned from Spain in 2008 and now live in LA with my son where I am back into full swing with NAMI once again.
BOARD MEMBER: ANAND PANDYA, MD
Anand Pandya, MD graduated from Harvard College and New York University School of Medicine before residency at Columbia University and a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at NYU.
Dr. Pandya has served as the Director of Ambulatory and Community Psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and is currently the Interim Chair at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he has served as Vice-Chair. He is an Associate Clinical Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) and an Associate Professor at Cedars-Sinai. He is a co-founder of Disaster Psychiatry Outreach (DPO), a volunteer organization committed to alleviating suffering in the aftermath of disaster through the expertise and good will of psychiatrists. DPO has responded to over a dozen disasters since 1998 including coordination of large-scale psychiatric services in New York City after the September 11th Attacks. Dr. Pandya was the first editor of Disaster Psychiatry: Intervening When Nightmares Come True which won the Kenneth Johnson Book Award and is a co-editor of Disaster Psychiatry: Readiness, Evaluation and Treatment, published this year by the American Psychiatric Press. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature on this subject and has been involved in the development of several curricula teaching different aspects of disaster psychiatry to a wide variety of audiences.
Dr. Pandya has also served as president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI-National,) the largest mental health advocacy organization in the United States. He has contributed to a variety of NAMI studies including the influential Grading the States reports and national surveys on schizophrenia and depression. Dr. Pandya serves on the Board of Directors of the Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas and serves as a reviewer for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as well as a variety of journals.
BOARD MEMBER: GAIL EVANUELIDI
Gail served on the NAMI CA State Board for three years, is serving on the Westside LA Board, is certified as a family to family teacher, and initiated the DMH/NAMI LPS Conservatorship Mentoring Team. She is dedicated to helping those who medically have no insight into their illness, to be able to get into treatment and gain real recovery. She is passionate about people having the “Right to be Well!” and works to break the barriers which prevent treatment for our loved ones.