About Us

Who We Are

Peter Ashenden, Board member since 2007, is a consumer/survivor and the Executive Vice President for the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) a position he started in August 2007.He is the former Executive Director of the Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP) a position he held for 11 years; he provides training to consumer/survivors and mental health professionals nationally and has been active in starting many self-help groups. He is a former Commissioner of the Certification Commission of USPRA formerly IAPSRS. He is the Treasurer and Executive Committee Member of the Board of USPRA. Additionally, he is an Executive Committee Member and the USPRA representative for the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, (NYAPRS). Peter also serves on The Board of Directors for the Baltic Street Mental Health Board, is a former member and Secretary of the Board of the Depression Bi-Polar Support Alliance and is a former member of the CARF (the Accreditation Association) Board. He was also a former member of the Board of PEOPLe, Inc., the Mental Health Association of New York State (MHANYS), and the Treasurer for the Peer Accreditation Project of New York State. Peter is certified by Mary Ellen Copeland to train recipients of mental health services in the Wellness Recovery Action Plan, a member of the Copeland Speaker’s Bureau and is a member of the Advisory Committee to Mary Ellen Copeland’s Wellness Recovery Center.

Ken Byalin, Ph.D., Board member since 2002, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of The Verrazano Foundation. Ken has been involved in professional social work practice for over thirty years. He played leadership roles in the development of the Brookdale Community Mental Health Center, one of the first in New York City to receive federal funding, and South Beach Psychiatric Center, one of the most successful public facilities in New York State. In addition, Ken has taught social work and sociology full-time on the college level and maintained a private psychotherapy practice in Brooklyn and Staten Island for over 20 years.

An ordained Soto Zen Buddhist priest and Dharma Successsor of Roshi Bernie Glassman, Ken is ithe teacher of the Interfaith Zen Group at Mount Manresa. Ken received his Bachelors degree in English literature from Carleton College, his Masters in social work from Columbia University, and his Doctorate in sociology from New York University. He has published in numerous professional journals.

Olivia Georgia, Board member since 2003, is the Executive Director of Meredith Monk/The House Foundation for the Arts, Inc. She was previously the Director of the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Director of Visual Arts at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, and Executive Director of Maryland Art Place in Baltimore. She has served as a panelist and site-visit consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts, Design Arts, and Inter-Arts/Presenting and Commissioning Programs as well as the New Jersey State Arts Council and the New York State Council for the Arts. She is an Executive Committee member of the New York City Chapter of ArtTable and an Adjunct Faculty member in the Masters of Arts Administration program at New York University Steinhardt School for Continuing Studies.

Edward L. Knight, Ph.D., Board member since 2004, is
Vice-President for Recovery, Rehabilitation and Support at ValueOptions and an Adjunct Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. He has served as President of National Artists for Mental Health, Inc. and on the boards of various advocacy organizations. Ed received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Detroit, his Masters from the University of Michigan and his Doctorate from the New School for Social Research, all in sociology. He is very widely published and much in demand as a speaker.

Francisco "Paco" Lugovina, Board member since 2003, is an entrepreneur, trainer, and management consultant. Paco led the development of a Battery Park City Residential Tower as well as the creation of many housing units in the Bronx. His wide range of experience as a human resources trainer and facilitator has taken him from the sidewalks of the South Bronx to the boardrooms of the corporate investment community where he has conducted organizational development and training. He has served as Chairman of the State of the New York Mortgage Agency; as a Bank Regulator on the New York State Banking Board; and as Chairman of the National Hispanic Housing Coalition. Long active in Bronx political and civic affairs, Paco is a founder of the Bronx Museum of the Arts and served on that board as well as on the boards of the Phelps-Stokes Fund and the Greyston Foundation. Paco received New York City’s highest Mayoral award for arts contribution and an award from the Jewish Community Relations Council. He is a graduate of Iona College.

Doris Schueler, Ph.D., Board member since 2002, is a psychogist in private practice in South Plainfield, New Jersey.

William Wingate, Board member since 2003, retired in 2001 after a 33 year career in Arts Management, particularly in the not-for- profit theatre. Since earning his MBA from Harvard in 1968, Bill has served as Managing Director of Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., the position from which he retired; as Managing Director of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and as Executive Managing Director of its parent, Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles; as Executive Director for New Musicals, Inc. and The New York City Ballet; and as Vice-President of the National Arts Stabilization Fund.

During this time, Bill has served a number of Statewide and National Organizations including: The National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Panel (Chairman in 1986 and 1999); Theatre Communications Group Board of Directors; The League of Resident Theatres (member of teams for Actors Equity, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and United Scenic Artists Contract negotiations); and The American Arts Alliance in Washington among and others. He is a founding Board member of Rhode Island Citizens for the Arts.

George Winn, Board member since 2005, is director of marketing - western region for Nordea Investment Management North America, where he is responsible for business development primarily in the western United States. Previously he served as the firm's head of client management, having joined Nordea in 1999 as a senior client manager. Prior to Nordea, George worked with the institutional funds sales and marketing group at Goldman Sachs Investment Management, where he partnered with managers of the corporate and bank marketing channels on sales and product management, and as special assistant to the director of the Timber Resource Group at John Hancock Pension and Investments. Before his investment career, George was assistant director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Program at Pragma Corporation and ran a private communications consultancy. He began his career in the marketing group of the Continuing Engineering Education Program of George Washington University. George holds a BA from George Washington University and an MBA from Boston University. He also served on the board of the Washington Free Clinic, in Washington, DC, where he was finance committee chair.