Linda Raines is the CEO of the Mental Health Association of Maryland (MHAMD), the second oldest mental health advocacy group in the nation, and leads the organization’s broad-based advocacy, education, training and services oversight programs.
She has formed and led numerous policy coalitions to unify Maryland’s behavioral health community to improve care and outcomes, launch criminal justice reform, and create an effective platform for youth and aging policy reform in the state. Under her leadership Maryland enacted one of the first state mental health parity laws in the nation in 1993, and through the Maryland Behavioral Health Coalition continues to strengthen parity compliance to achieve true equity in access to care. Her leadership in establishing the Maryland Consumer Quality Team, which conducts unannounced site visits to mental health community programs and hospitals, has improved outcomes for thousands of individuals receiving public behavioral health services throughout Maryland. During her tenure, MHAMD became a founding partner of Mental Health First Aid USA, and leads the MHFA program in Maryland. She is also the CEO of BrainFutures, a not for profit organization established by MHAMD in 2016 to accelerate the adoption of effective application of brain science advances to maximize human potential through conferences, partnerships, public education and policy initiatives.