Board of directors
Dr. Leon Kelly, president: Leon is a board-certified forensic pathologist and the coroner, chief medical examiner and deputy medical director of El Paso County. His statewide work as a medical expert has included service on the Child Fatality Prevention System State Review Team, and he co-founded the county’s Child Fatality Review Team to help lead local suicide prevention efforts. Leon also teaches at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
Taline (Ty) Meredith, vice president: Ty is the chief executive officer for Peak View Behavioral Health. She has over 18 years’ experience in hospital operations, business development, social services and mental health, and holds an MBA. Ty has previously served as vice chair on the board of directors at Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership and currently volunteers as a leader for the Boy Scouts of America. She believes strongly in providing needed quality mental health programs for Colorado residents and advocating for community access to care.
Rob Levis, treasurer: Rob is president of Levis Grosdidier & Associates, LLC, a Colorado Springs-based forensic accounting practice. He is a CPA and has a B.S. and Master of Accounting degrees from the University of Florida. Rob specializes in business appraisals and economic loss quantification in litigated disputes. He is a graduate of NAMI's Family-to-Family program.
Damian McCabe, secretary: Damian is a retired Army officer and behavioral health clinician. After 24 years spent taking care of service members and their families, he is now serving as UCHealth's director of military affairs and also as its director of behavioral health (southern region). He has been using and supporting the resources of NAMI since the early 1990s, when he was a newly minted LCSW in rural Maine. Damian attended the University of Maine and Boston College and was previously an assistant professor at the United States Air Force Academy.
Ray Cameron: Ray Cameron is COO at Magneti, a Denver-based marketing agency that started in Colorado Springs. He’s been doing digital marketing for 15-plus years, and previously owned an agency that was acquired by Magneti in 2015. Having dealt with mental health challenges for most of his life, Ray has led Magneti in building a company culture where people facing similar challenges can find support and thrive. He is a presenter for NAMI's In Our Own Voice program and a facilitator of Connection Support Group.
Dr. Monica Furey: Monica is a clinical assistant professor of social work at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a school board member, and past president of the Colorado Association of School Boards. Prior to joining academia, she worked in Washington, D.C., with abused children, was a social work fellow at the Yale Child Study Center, and served on the faculty of the Center's HIV-Affected Children and Families Program. She also worked in private practice.
Dr. Emily Ptaszek: Emily serves as president & CEO for Peak Vista Community Health Centers. She previously worked for Healthcare Network in Naples, Florida, as a clinical psychologist, chief of behavioral health services, chief operating officer, and as president and CEO. She is a board-certified clinical psychologist and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has practiced at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where she specialized in trauma and PTSD. Emily earned her Doctor of Psychology from Loyola University Maryland.
Bill Mahaffey: Bill is a partner at the Lewis Roca law firm in Colorado Springs, with a practice emphasis in the taxation, finance, corporate and transactional areas. He has been with the firm since 1995, during which time he has earned multiple “Best Lawyers in America” distinctions in the area of tax law. Bill has a Master of Laws degree from New York University School of Law and a Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University.
Juan Recinos: Juan is chief operations officer of Bright Futures Psychiatry, a private mental health practice serving children and adults in Colorado Springs. He has also served as chief strategy officer at AspenPointe (now Diversus Health) and as director of operations for Valley Wide Health System in Alamosa. Juan has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in healthcare administration from Chapman University.
Rhea Rollman: Rhea is a major in the Colorado Army National Guard, where she serves as integrated primary prevention director and deputy J9. She previously served as social science program specialist at Fort Carson, where she supervised various programs chartered with providing life skills support, quality of life improvement, community resource navigation and referral assistance to soldiers and families. A combat veteran, Rhea counts 11 years of active-duty service among her 20-plus years of military experience.
Mary Rosenoff: Mary is a deputy chief of the Colorado Springs Police Department, where she leads the Investigations and Special Operations Bureau. She has been in law enforcement for 35 years, with approximately half of that time spent in dedicated patrol service to Southeast Colorado Springs. Mary has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and is a strong believer in access to mental health services for all community members.
Sam Stephenson: Sam is the executive director of Converge, a Colorado Springs arts and literature nonprofit, and managing case coordinator for the El Paso County Guardian ad Litem. He has a master’s degree in social work from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Sam has a passion for the Colorado Springs community, mental health work, and creating social systems that make people feel better.
Michelle Talarico serves as city councilor for Colorado Springs District 3 and is co-owner and director of sales for Picnic Basket Catering, Cravings Five Star Events and Buffalo Gals Grilling Company. An alumnus of Colorado College, she has given back to the local community as a board member and volunteer for various organizations, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Children’s Literacy Center, and the Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance. Michelle is a 2002 graduate of the Colorado Springs Leadership Institute.
Dr. Manya Whitaker is executive vice president and chief of staff at Colorado College and an associate professor of education. She is a developmental educational psychologist with expertise in social and political issues in education. Manya’s research has generated multiple publications, including Schooling Multicultural Teachers: A Guide for Program Assessment and Professional Development, Learning from the Inside-Out: Child Development and School Choice and Counternarratives from Women of Color Academics. Her most recent book, Public School Equity: Educational Leadership for Justice, draws upon her K-12 consulting work.