As a young college student, Mario was given a lead on a job at a research and training center for children’s mental health. It wasn’t remotely what he was interested in, but his wife said, “take the job; we need the money!” And the rest, as they say, is history. Mario Hernandez, former Chair of the Child and Family Studies Department, University of South Florida, and Systems of Care legend, is my guest on this episode of The Optimistic Advocate podcast. We talk about the early days of systems of...
Aug 17, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 28
Alina Liao is a proud daughter of immigrants, a resident of Washington, DC, and mental health advocate. Alina is the Founder of Zenit, a radical wellness company with the mission to make wellness accessible to everyone. With Zenit, Alina makes customized wellness journals and provides healing-centered journaling workshops to empower folks to gain the mental health benefits of journaling. Before Zenit, Alina co-founded a nonprofit where she provided mental health coaching to the youth of color. O...
Jun 05, 2022•34 min•Ep. 27
Lloyd L. Garrison is currently the CEO/Founder of Hidden G.E.M.S. by LG which serves to motivate, inspire, and educate others through the power of the spoken word. Lloyd’s passion for utilizing spoken word and motivational speaking began during the global pandemic in 2020. Lloyd is currently using his passion for assisting disadvantaged youth and their families as the Director of Juvenile Justice Services at Connections, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (2001)...
Jan 30, 2022•35 min•Ep. 26
Avni Godse life was changed forever after an inspirational trip to India when she was just 12 years old, where she was shown several unique works of art and was overcome with intense emotions when she realized that these incredible artistic creations were painted by people with no arms. This instantly sparked a flame inside her, wanting to change how the world perceived those with disabilities and illnesses, not seeing them as people who were different, but rather as people who are normal and ju...
Aug 20, 2021•18 min•Ep. 25
Solome Tibebu is a behavioral health strategist and consultant passionate about frontier technologies and solutions transforming mental health, equity, and access. Solome's work has spanned behavioral health and human service consulting, venture capital, corporate development, and various operating roles at behavioral health software companies, large and small. Solome leads a philanthropic fund focused on adolescent mental health. She is a board director or advisor to various adolescent and adul...
Jul 21, 2021•22 min•Ep. 24
Tessie Castillo is an author, journalist and public speaker who specializes in stories on criminal justice, drug policy, prison reform and racial equity. She co-wrote her first book, Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row , with four men serving death sentences in North Carolina, whom she met while volunteering at North Carolina’s Central Prison in 2014. While volunteering, Castillo was moved by the wisdom, humility, and accountability of the men in prison. In May 2014 she wrote an editorial to ...
Jul 09, 2021•32 min•Ep. 23
Scott Bryant-Comstock interviews Bill Russell, who shares the story behind The Daily Mile and its impact on children and families worldwide. Bill Russell is the Director of The Daily Mile USA Program. Bill has over 20 years of experience as a public educator and has been an administrator, a teacher, and a coach. Bill has genuine love and passion for helping young people become the best they can be. Bill also enjoys being active with family and friends. The goal of The Daily Mile is to improve th...
Jun 04, 2021•36 min•Ep. 22
Dr. Robert P. Franks is the president and Chief Executive Officer of the Judge Baker Children's Center (JBCC) and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Franks is a leader in the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices in children’s mental health, holds a master’s degree from George Washington University and a Ph.D. from Boston College. He completed his clinical training and doctoral fellowship in child psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center in New Hav...
May 28, 2021•31 min•Ep. 21
Joining me today are two iconic individuals who are passionately serving people and communities through their advocacy work, Julie Radlauer-Doerfler, and Ryon Robert Coote. This episode represents the third conversation in our three-part miniseries on conversations about race. Julie Radlauer-Doerfler is a changemaker and a peacemaker. In every aspect of her career, she has focused on transforming individuals, organizations and communities. She specializes in utilizing evidence-based and research...
May 26, 2021•24 min•Ep. 20
Today, I am joined by two amazing individuals who are exceptional in their advocacy work, Julie Radlauer-Doerfler, and Ryon Coote. This episode is the second of the three-part series of conversations about race. Julie Radlauer-Doerfler is a changemaker and a peacemaker. In every aspect of her career, she has focused on transforming individuals, organizations and communities. She specializes in utilizing evidence-based and researched practices to inform her processes. Her style of boldly embracin...
May 14, 2021•35 min•Ep. 19
Julie Radlauer-Doerfler is a changemaker and a peacemaker. In every aspect of her career, she has focused on transforming individuals, organizations and communities. She specializes in utilizing evidence-based and researched practices to inform her processes. Her style of boldly embracing change in a warm and nurturing manner offers support to those she works with. Julie truly believes that we should “be the change we want to see in the world” and actualizes this value in her work and her life. ...
Apr 22, 2021•32 min•Ep. 18
Barbara Huff is the first board president and the founding Executive Director of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health (NFFCMH). Barbara was the co-recipient of the Blanche F. Ittleson Award in 2013. This prestigious award is given by the American Orthopsychiatric Association to individuals with outstanding achievements in the delivery of children’s services and the promotion of children’s mental health. In this episode, Barbara Huff talks about her journey as an iconi...
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 17
Keith Wakeman is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SuperBetter. Keith’s professional background is in brand management. He worked for almost 20 years in the food industry where he led brand portfolios, innovation teams, new venture development, and corporate strategy for big food companies. SuperBetter is an application that is designed to empower individuals and communities to live epic lives that are full of joy, resilience, strong social relationships, positive emotions, and a sense of pur...
Mar 12, 2021•28 min•Ep. 16
Episode 15: Integrated Care Begins with Self-Care Today, I'm honored to share a conversation with two amazing individuals, Rebecca Pille and Laurie Ellington . Rebecca Pille is the Department Chair for two graduate programs — Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching and Master of Arts degree in Health and Wellness Coaching in Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). She is an experienced faculty with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industr...
Mar 04, 2021•43 min•Ep. 15
ACHIEVING RACIAL EQUITY IN MASSACHUSETTS: THE DYNAMIC DUO IS ON A MISSION! Today, I am joined by Audrey Smolkin and Thula Sibanda. Audrey is the Director of Child and Family Policy at the UMass Medical School. She is responsible for identifying, developing, overseeing the management of new programs, research, and evidence-based policy initiatives all related to children and families. And as part of her job, she is partnering with organizations and individuals from throughout the state to help im...
Jan 27, 2021•41 min•Ep. 14
This is Scott Bryant-Comstock with the Optimistic Advocate podcast and the Kundalini Chronicles podcast. Wait, wait, what? Two podcasts? Yes! I made the decision to split out the Kundalini Chronicles, which has pretty much dominated the last almost 30 episodes of the Optimistic Advocate podcast, For those of you who are interested in just focusing on my experiences with awakening, and the lessons learned from that, but more importantly tips and strategies for your own personal self development, ...
Jan 17, 2021•3 min•Ep. 13
Solomé Tibebu is the Director of the Upswing Fund. She is leading the effort to provide timely resources to organizations that focus on the mental health and well-being supports to adolescents of color and/or LGBTQ+ in the United States—populations that face urgent needs during the pandemic but too often lack access to the care they need. Funding for the effort comes from Pivotal Ventures, a personal investment and incubation company founded and led by Melinda Gates. In this episode, apart from ...
Oct 20, 2020•32 min•Ep. 12
Today, I am joined by three individuals involved in improving the mental health services and supports for youth and young adults living in Broward County, Florida. Tiffany Lawrence, Latrice Richards, and Crysta Snyder. They are working under the umbrella of the One Community Partnership 3 System of Care Grant and Broward Behavioral Health Care Coalition. Tiffany Lawrence, LMFTTiffany is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida who has been working in the behavioral health field for 7 ...
Oct 07, 2020•55 min•Ep. 11
Micah Howe is a dedicated mental health advocate from rural Iowa. He is a strong advocate and a rising voice for those with lived experience. He was supposed to speak at the 33rd Annual Research and Policy Conference in March 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the conference. The Iconic Clown: Reflections on the Joker’s Popularity as the Personification of Mental Illness and What America Can Learn From Gotham City’s Mental Health System The Joker has become a hot-button character in t...
Sep 09, 2020•31 min•Ep. 10
Today, I am joined by three amazing individuals, Tiffany Lawrence, LMFT, Damas Cher-Frere, and Erica M. Ricketts, MBA. Tiffany is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida who has been working in the behavioral health field for 7 years. She works at Broward Behavioral Health Coalition as the Project Director for Broward County’s One Community Partnership 3 System of Care SAMHSA grant. Her expertise is in assisting communities to develop programs that promote success for transition-age ...
Aug 27, 2020•56 min•Ep. 9
Melissa Heatly is a clinical child psychologist. She coordinates the school-based initiatives with pediatric behavioral health and wellness at UR Medicine, which provides comprehensive school-based behavioral health services, consultation, and training to youth and educators across the greater Rochester region. In this episode, we explore the efforts of Melissa Heatly, a true community organizer. Melissa works tirelessly together with multitudes of people in the community to make sure that servi...
Aug 12, 2020•31 min•Ep. 8
Bonita Gibb is the Social Marketing Coordinator of the Otsego County System of Care in upstate New York. Aside from her proven track record as a professional and an advocate, she is also a loving wife and a mother of a teen daughter. In this episode, Bonita shares her journey with the organization and the rural community that they are serving. Their way of adaptation to the current pandemic to address the needs and deliver services to families, youth, and schools. She imparts useful tips on how ...
Jul 28, 2020•19 min•Ep. 7
Melanie Funchess is an advocates advocate. She leads community engagement for the Mental Health Association in Rochester. A large part of her work is to make connections with diverse communities, bringing them together with the ultimate goal of strengthening the fabric of services and supports that are provided to the good people of Rochester. In this episode, we delve into the personal journey of Melanie and her history as an advocate that goes all the way back to childhood. We're going to who ...
Jul 16, 2020•53 min•Ep. 6
Julie Radlauer-Doerfler is the co-founder of the Ronik-Radlauer Group, a leadership development firm in Florida. As a busy mental health advocate and leadership consultant, she spends her time helping organizations throughout the United States create change, improve their skills in serving families, and establish themselves as leaders in human services in the communities in which they live. In this episode, Julie discusses the importance of self-care in mental health advocates for them to be pro...
Jul 09, 2020•38 min•Ep. 5
Kathryn Goetzke is an entrepreneur, strategic consultant and global depression advocate. She is the entrepreneur and innovator behind Mood-lites™, a brand that achieved over 35 million dollars in retail sales. As her role as Chief Mood Officer at The Mood Factory, she is committed to getting people into the present moment through her new line of product based on how scents impact moods, and 21 Day courses teaching habits of how to live a positive, engaged, productive life. Ms. Goetzke is most pr...
Jun 17, 2020•29 min•Ep. 4
In this episode, Scott shares some of his thoughts about what a white progressive male needs to do in response to the horrific murder of George Floyd. And how are we going to address the issue of racial injustice as a nation? He talks about the three reasons why progressive white males, like him, don't speak out about racial injustice. What You'll Learn Scott's reflection on racial injustice according to his personal experience way back when he was a child. Scott's thoughts on the murder of Geor...
Jun 11, 2020•28 min•Ep. 3
Dennis D. Embry, Ph.D. is the CEO, Founder, and senior scientist at PAXIS Institute in Tucson Arizona and a co-investigator at Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention as well as co-investigator with the Promise Neighborhood Research Consortium, the University of Manitoba, University of South Carolina - Overseeing 50 major prevention projects in the US and Canada. Dr. Embry has personally created multiple interventions using both cultural wisdom and leading edge science to prevent multiple problems i...
May 18, 2020•36 min•Ep. 2
Hello, and welcome to the Optimistic Advocate! The Podcast that brings you just a bit closer to recognizing your full potential as an advocate for change – yours, mine, and everyone's! I’m your host, Scott, Bryant-Comstock, and I’m CEO and founder of the Children’s Mental Health Network . For the past 40 years, my journey as a mental health advocate has traveled from volunteering at a suicide and crisis center, professional roles as a therapist in an outpatient clinic, in-home family therapist, ...
May 13, 2020•3 min
Martin Rafferty is the CEO and founder of the Youth Era. Under his innovative leadership, Youth Era has established services across the nation. He believes that one of the Youth Era's greatest strengths is the ability to give youth opportunities necessary for a successful transition into adulthood. Martin currently sits on the national board of CAFETY and Reachout.com’s youth board. In 2010, Martin won the Mental Health Award of Excellence from AMH and the OCHH Ma Curtis Award. Now, he continues...
Apr 24, 2020•42 min•Ep. 1
