Ian has been with MHANYS since 2023. He is an accounting professional who supports the finance department in processing invoicing, payroll, contracts and more.
Melissa Ramirez has been with MHANYS since 2006.
Melissa oversees MHANYS’ day-to-day administrative and operational functions, as well as the Grants Management and Mental Health Information Center teams. She is responsible for operational leadership, including change management and improving systems to increase alignment, accountability, and efficient allocation of resources.
Melissa enjoys music, cooking projects, and walks with family and friends.
John came to MHANYS in February 2023, after serving for two decades as Deputy Commissioner and Counsel at the State Office of Mental Health, where he provided advice and counsel to the Commissioner of OMH, agency staff, and the Executive Chamber. He was appointed as the Acting Commissioner of OMH by two different Governors during this period. After his career at OMH, John worked for eight years at Brown & Weinraub, a private law and consulting firm in Albany, where he represented several health and mental hygiene providers. John resides in Rensselaer, NY, with his wife Nola.
Kevin has been with MHANYS since 2022.
Afua (she/her/they) is a long-time serving early childhood educator/advocate and growing artist. She was an intern at MHANYS in 2019 and then became a certified Mental Health First Aider. Now she returns to MHANYS as a full-time Universal Mental Health First Aid trainer. She supports agency programming, advocates for mental health policy and education, facilitates trainings with hopes and dreams to continue advocating for mental health in all avenues internal and external with a bit of sparkle and more fun.
Afua likes to keep busy with a balance of body wellness: yoga, pilates, crafting, roller skating, painting, auto racing, piano, dance, twirling, make-up, natural hair care, and photography. She loves her life to be full of color and vibrancy.
Meg, CASAC, (she/her/hers) joined MHANYS in 2022. She is a CASAC. Meg supports the MHCP team by delivering trainings in CarePath and Mental Health Community Partners programs. Meg believes in the CarePath and MHCP programs because of their human-centered approaches to recovery, and loves the relational aspect of the programs.
Meg loves to cook and experiment with new recipes. She is also a pet mom and loves spending time with her dogs and cats!
Marylou (she/her/hers) has been with MHANYS since 2021. She is new to Mental Health advocacy, however, is thrilled to be using her over 30 years of work experience in technology to help the agency. She is always willing to learn and loves helping others with technology challenges.
Marylou volunteers with children, and is a Mets fan, beginner quilter, and loves the outdoors.
Deborah (she/her/hers) has been with MHANYS since 2010 and has been a content expert for MHANYS Family Engagement Programming. She is Co-Director of Building Connection, a collaborative project with the New York State Coalition against Sexual Assault, providing ongoing technical assistance about trauma-informed resources and trainings across NYS.
Deb loves meditative walking, kayaking, and poetry.
Stephanie (she/her/hers) has been with MHANYS since March 2022. She loves to read, paint, snowboard and walk her 2 dogs.
Graham (he/him/his) joined MHANYS in 2019. Graham trains individuals in mental health literacy, manages several programs across New York State in the MHA Affiliate network, oversees a Voter Empowerment Project, and supervises an internship program.
When Graham is not spending time with his wife and two young boys he likes to unwind by reading, playing board games with his friends, and trying as many local restaurants as possible in the Capital Region.
Andrea Hauser (she/her/hers) has been with MHANYS since 2011.
She oversees all aspects of the Finance Office including Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, and General Ledger, and handles many Grants Management and Human Resource processes.
Andrea and her husband have 4 rescue horses, 2 dogs, and many domesticated and feral cats. In addition to caring for their animals, they harvest the hay for the horses during the summer months on their 40 acres. In her downtime, Andrea likes to read fiction novels and the Readers’ Digest.
