Mental Health America’s Regional Policy Council (RPC) day-long summer policy meeting entitled Access, options, and choice: Good policy, good business will take place in Boston on August 5, 2025, at the Aloft Hotel. As is our practice, this meeting coincides with the National Conference of State Legislators Summit and will begin with a breakfast honoring state legislators who have been policy champions for behavioral health. The day continues with an in-depth policy meeting featuring nationally known experts making the business case for policy that supports employee and maternal mental health: the importance of personal choice for medication, the spiritual, legislative and regulatory landscape regarding psychedelics; public/private Partnerships for mental health tech in the states; and why language and culture are of paramount importance.
Agenda (subject to change)
7 – 7:30 a.m.
Registration and breakfast buffet open
7:30 – 7:35 a.m.
Welcome and housekeeping
- Debbie Plotnick, EVP state and federal advocacy, Mental Health America
7:35 – 8:35 a.m.
Legislator Awards Breakfast
- Honoring 2025 State Legislative Mental Health and Substance Use disorder Champions
- Featuring remarks from past awardees, MA Sen. Cindy Friedman
8:35 – 8:50 a.m.
Comments from MHA leadership
- Schroeder Stribling, president and CEO, Mental Health America
8:50 – 9:05 a.m.
Federal policy update
- Mary Giliberti, chief public policy officer, Mental Health America
9:05 – 9:25 a.m.
Massachusetts parity: Increased access and effective enforcement
- Danna Mauch, president and CEO, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health
9:25 – 9:40 a.m.
Break
9:40 – 10 a.m.
The importance of language and culture for accessing treatment and services
- Dr. Pierluigi Mancini, president and CEO, the Multicultural Development Institute, Inc.
10 – 10:40 a.m.
The business case for supporting employee mental health
- Panel discussion moderated by Ben Harrington, CEO, MHA of East Tennessee, featuring:
- Luis Perez, president & CEO, Mental Health Connecticut
- Carrie Zeisse, CEO of Tampa Bay Thrives
- Tracye Weeks, chief people and culture officer at Mental Health America
10:40 – 11:10 a.m.
Maternal mental health, an investment that builds families
- Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, founder/director of policy and partnerships, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance
11:10 – 11:50 a.m.
Psychedelics, spirituality, and the law
- Victoria Grace Litman M.Div., J.D., LL.M., The Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law School
11:50 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Networking lunch
1 – 1:40 p.m.
Long acting injectables, a pathway for access and choice
- Panel discussion moderated by Barb Johnston, director, policy and advocacy, MHA in New Jersey, featuring:
- Frederick Ryan, director, policy and government relations, Alkermes
- Patrick Stone, director state government affairs and public policy, Otsuka
1:40 – 2 p.m.
Public/Private partnerships for mental health tech in the states
- Kelly Davis, vice president for peer and youth advocacy, Mental Health America
2 – 2:30 p.m.
RPC leads report out on state policies
- Barb Johnston, director of policy and advocacy, the Mental Health Association in New Jersey
- Ben Harrington, CEO of the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee
- Shannah Mulvihill, executive director and CEO, Mental Health Minnesota
- Shelley Polanco, director of state policy, Vibrant Emotional Health
2:30 p.m.
End of program
