2021 — Women's Mental Health Conference

Tarana Burke is best known for founding the 'me too' Movement and has dedicated her life to social justice work and giving strength to those who experienced sexual trauma or harassment. Honored as one of The Silence Breakers named TIME's 2017 Person of the Year, and named to TIME's "100 Most Influential People of 2018. Years before 'me too' became a viral hashtag, Burke founded Just Be Inc., a non-profit that helps victims.

Michele Harper has worked as an emergency room physician for more than a decade at various institutions, including as chief resident at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and in the emergency department at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. The Beauty in Breaking is her first book.

Maria Velissaris is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. She is the Founding Partner of SteelSky Ventures LLC, an early stage venture fund that invests in women’s health tech solutions.

Kristina Saffran is the cofounder and CEO of Equip, a virtual program helping families recover from eating disorders at home with comprehensive, gold-standard care created by experts in the field and people in recovery. Equip’s five person care teams include dieticians, physicians, therapists, and mentors who deliver wrap-around support to provide families progress and lasting recovery.

Nala is a Trans Afro-Caribbean Model + Activist + Healer. With a background in grassroots activism and community building, Nala works with organizations to spark impactful change through policy, activism, and education. Nala is the founder of Reuniting of African Descendants (R.O.A.D). R.O.A.D is a trans-led, grassroots initiative invested in equity, collective growth, and healing for LGBTQIA+/SGL people of African Descendants. ROAD work is rooted in ending genocide against Queer and Trans people of African Descendants.

Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite, MD is a Board Certified Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist. She is Founder and CEO of Well Minds Psychiatry and Consulting Company, PLLC. She is Senior Vice President and Medical Director for Scheduled Care and AtHome for Array Behavioral Care, the leading and largest telepsychiatry service provider in the US. She is a nationally recognized expert on trauma, the impact of racism on mental health, developing trauma informed schools and organizations, implicit bias, Post-Partum Mental Health, and mental health in communities of color.

Alexandra Sacks, M.D. is a womens' health psychiatrist and author affiliated with the Women’s Program at the Columbia University Medical Center and the Columbia University Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research. Dr. Sacks educates the public about women's mental health issues as the host of "Motherhood Sessions" a podcast with Gimlet Media/Spotify and is coauthor of the book What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood.

Dr. Sofia Noori is the Chief Resident of Digital Psychiatry and Chief Resident of Quality Improvement at the Yale Department of Psychiatry. She is a founding member of the Center for Digital Psychiatry at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, which aims to integrate digital health in the care of patients with serious mental illness.

Dr. Carly Snyder is a Board Certified reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist with a unique approach that combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments. Dr. Snyder received her medical degree from NYU School of Medicine and completed general psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center with additional reproductive psychiatry elective training at the Payne Whitney Women’s Program at NY Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she remains voluntary faculty.

Jessica Elizabeth Isom, MD MPH is an early career community psychiatrist, public speaker, medical educator and consultant for diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism projects. Driven by a passion for collaborative leadership, she takes pride in providing the conceptual frameworks and psychological safety necessary to expand the growing edges of her clients and peers.

Ariel Richer is the co-founder and Director of Research and Advocacy for UIC. She is a descendant of the Indigenous people of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. Ariel is a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Social Work working within the Social Intervention Group (SIG), under the direction of Associate Professor Louisa Gilbert. Her focus is on intimate partner violence and access to relevant services for Black and Indigenous women who use drugs and are involved in the criminal-legal system.

Sarah Deer is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and Chief Justice for the Prairie Island Indian Community Court of Appeals. Her legal scholarship focuses on the challenges facing Tribal Nation in the United States, particularly criminal justice. Her 2015 book, The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America is the culmination of over 25 years of working with survivors and criminal justice personnel and has received several awards, including the Best First Book award from the Native American Indigenous Studies Association. Justice Deer was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2014 and a Carnegie Fellow in 2020.

Dr. Nita is a board-certified OB/GYN who is known for co-hosting the Emmy-Award Winning talk show The Doctors for five seasons. She has also severed as a medical expert for numerous shows such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil and Iyanla Fix My Life. Additionally, she has been the keynote speaker and moderator at influential events such as the United Nations Foundation: Moms + Social Good; the nations largest women’s Expo; and the Essence Festival- just to name a few.

Zahara Green is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of TRANScending Barriers, a trans-led group whose mission is to empower the transgender and gender non-conforming community in Georgia through community organizing with leadership building, advocacy, and direct services. Zahara is the Board President of Black & Pink, Inc. a prison abolitionist organization supporting LGBTQ and HIV+ prisoners. As an consultant, Zahara works with the National PREA Resource Center to end sexual abuse in confinement. Zahara is a formerly incarcerated black trans woman who spent 5 years incarcerated, with most of her time in solitary confinement. She’s working towards the liberation of her people.

Dr. Sayida Peprah is both a licensed clinical psychologist and birth doula with specialty in multicultural psychology, trauma, suicide prevention and maternal mental health. Dr. Sayida is the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Diversity Uplifts, Inc., through which she regularly offers cultural competency, mental health and maternal mental health trainings and consultations throughout the US.

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