Please tell us what position you hold in the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program!
I have joined the Prechter Program as the Associate Director of Development, Mental Health Programs. My role is to advance the mission of the Prechter Program through philanthropic gift support, making sure the program has all the resources it needs to continue to support individuals with bipolar disorder. I will work closely with Prechter lab members, the administrative team and the Department of Psychiatry, to cultivate past, current and future supporters of the program.
What’s the best thing about working at the Prechter Program?
I have long admired the strong donor culture of support for the Prechter Program, learning about the program back in 2017 from then-lead fundraiser, Lisa Fabian! I live with mental illness and neurodiversity, and with the right supports I have thrived. However it’s not a vacuum, and I have to be an advocate for myself as things change in my world. I hope that my work with our amazing donors will lead to others feeling this same sense of agency and support. While I am not a clinician or a researcher, this is the way I can contribute to raising the tide for all those with boats on the sea of mental illness.
What do you like to do outside of work?
If I’m not chasing around my two rambunctious kiddos, you can probably find me: reading National Geographic articles about ancient civilizations, archaeology or health, on the tennis court where my brain seems to relax the most, or curled up reading fiction and falling into the world that lives in the pages of a good book.
Where do you hope to go next in your education and career?
Growing my career as well as my family over the last decade has taken all of my focused attention, but I would really like to spend the next few years working on a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs and advocacy. I spent a large portion of my career raising funds for higher education and specifically academics, but after joining Michigan Medicine Development after one of my children had a life-saving intervention, I knew I had found my forever professional home. I hope to support the Prechter Bipolar Research Program for many years to come!
And finally: What are the three things you’d take with you on a deserted island?
A lifetime supply of books, some kind of direct line of communication with my kids because they’re awesome, skin protection!