Member News

Mentorship Program Seeks Mentors and Learners (12/09/09)
The College is preparing to launch the 2010 ACMHA Emerging Leaders Mentorship Program, first introduced in 2006. The program brochure provides additional information about the ACMHA experience, which pairs experienced leaders with self-identified emerging leaders for informal learning and support. Mentor and learner pairs establish regular communication strategies (email and telephone) around goals identified by the individual. The mentoring experience is enhanced through quarterly conference calls with program facilitators and participants as well as opportunity to meet face-to-face for those attending the Summit. Application materials for both mentors and learners are available from the links below.


ACMHA Call for Nominations - Annual Awards (12/04/09)
ACMHA: The College for Behavioral Health Leadership is currently accepting nominations for four awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the College and the behavioral health field. The award criteria are listed below. With the exception of the Walter Barton Award, the awards are open to both ACMHA members and non-members. The nomination deadline is February 1, 2010.  The awards will be presented at the 2010 ACMHA Summit, which will be held March 24-26 in Santa Fe, NM.


Timothy Coakley Award
The Timothy J. Coakley Behavioral Health Leadership Award honors consumers, family members, and persons in recovery who have demonstrated leadership in advancing the role of consumers and family members in the behavioral health field. An outstanding leader, advocate, program innovator, and visionary, Tim Coakley pioneered alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization for adolescents, initiated award-winning services for homeless families, and cultivated a broad range of psychosocial services for people with serious mental illnesses. Award Criteria:

  • Open to ACMHA members and non-members.
  • An individual who is a consumer of mental health and/or addiction recovery services, a family member, or a person in recovery.
  • Demonstrated leadership in advancing the role of consumers, families, and persons in recovery in the field, such as through the development of innovative services that support recovery.

Past recipients have included Joseph A. Rogers; Edward L. Knight, PhD, CPRP; and the Consumer Action Network of Washington, DC, represented by Effie Smith.

King Davis Award
The King Davis Award for Emerging Leadership in Promoting Diversity and Reducing Disparities recognizes emerging leaders who have made a direct impact on the quality of care or access to care for populations of color at the local, state, or national level.
Established in 2009, the award is made in honor of Dr. King Davis, the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy at the University of Texas at Austin and former ACMHA board member, for his exceptional contributions to the field.
Award Criteria:

  • Open to ACMHA members and non-members.
  • An individual who is early or mid-career and who has demonstrated leadership in the behavioral health field.
  • Demonstrated contributions to improving quality of care or access to care for populations of color at the local, state, or national level.

The inaugural recipient of the Davis Award was Kana Enomoto, MA.

Walter Barton Award
The Walter Barton Distinguished Fellow award honors an ACMHA member who has made outstanding, sustained contributions to the leadership of the College and to the field of behavioral health leadership and policy. The award is made in honor of Dr. Walter Barton, long-time medical director of the American Psychiatric Association and ACMHA co-founder. Award criteria:

  • Open to current, emeritus, and former members of ACMHA.
  • Contributions to ACMHA through service over 5 or more years in leadership positions in the College, such as membership on the ACMHA board, chairmanship of Summit or other significant committees.
  • Sustained involvement in the projects and programs of the College though such activities as membership on committees, presentations at the Summit, recruitment of new members, and writings distributed to the College membership.
  • Sustained, outstanding contributions to the field of behavioral health leadership that support the mission and aims of the College.

Past winners include Sandy Forquer, PhD; HG Whittington, MD; Eric Goplerud, PhD; Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH; Stephen M. Soreff, MD; William S. James, MD; Robert Browne, MD; Pamela Hyde, JD; Lisa Teems, DMin, LCSW; Bruce Bronzan and Afshin Khosravi; and Mike Hogan, PhD.

Saul Feldman Award
The Saul Feldman Award for Lifetime Achievement honors the sustained, significant contributions of an individual to leadership and policy in the mental health and addictions recovery field. The award is open to ACMHA members and non-members.
The award is given in honor of Saul Feldman, DPA, CEO Emeritus of United Behavioral Health, and former president and co-founder of the College. Award criteria:

  • Open to ACMHA fellows, ACMHA emeritus and former fellows, and non-members of the College.
  • At least 15 years in key leadership and policy positions in the behavioral health field.
  • Significant contributions to the literature on behavioral health leadership and policy in books, chapters, or articles in leading journals.
  • Role as a leader in the public or private sector at the national, regional, or state level, either as an executive in an agency providing mental health and addictions services and/or as an officer or committee chairperson in professional organizations related to mental health and addictions.
  • Track record of significant contributions to new or improved behavioral health organizations or system development.

Contributions made at the federal/national or state level that advanced the mental health and addictions field.
Past winners include King Davis, PhD; HG Whittington, MD; Ronald Manderscheid, PhD; Mary Jane England, MD; Areta Crowell, PhD; John Morris, MSW; and Herb Pardes, MD.