The Board of Directors
Serena Liu
President
Pronouns: She/Her
Serena Liu is a high school student at Pine View School in Sarasota, who serves as the president of Youth MOVE Suncoast. As someone who moved across the world with her family at 12 years old, Serena has first-hand experience of what it is like going through major community adjustments. Through her work at Youth MOVE, Serena seeks to support and empower youth in her community and show youth that no matter their backgrounds, their perspectives are valued, and their voices are heard. In 2022, Serena founded Human Rights Youth Advocacy Inc., and has worked to provide youth in Tibet, underserved communities in Africa, and the US with health and educational support. Recently, Serena has been working to implement strategic plans boosting youth wellbeing into her county’s community health assessment plan for 2025-2030. Serena recognizes the value that youth voices hold and is excited to be a part of Youth MOVE National! In her free time, Serena enjoys doing protein research, dancing, and volunteering with her local Youth MOVE.
John Dellick
Vice President
Pronouns: He/Him
John Dellick is a passionate advocate for youth, with lived experience in several youth-serving systems. John’s work focuses on mental health, substance use recovery, supporting justice-impacted individuals, and uplifting the work of peers to create opportunities for youth to amplify their voices. He began his work as a certified peer support specialist in 2017, and since then has been blending his lived experience with expertise in business and innovation to support youth in navigating complex systems. Additionally, he actively advocates and contributes to discussions around mental health, justice reform, and youth leadership.
Guiying (Angel) Zhong
Secretary
Pronouns: She/They
Guiying (Angel) Zhong (she/they) is a youth mental health advocate and scholar-activist. Situated at the intersection of research and public impact, her work seeks to empower historically marginalized communities, build capacity for culturally responsive research and care, and advance mental health equity through epistemic justice. Since graduating with majors in Psychology and English and minors in Writing and Ethnic Studies from the University of the Pacific, they have served as a Research Analyst at the UW-Madison Center for Health Disparities Research, working on an NIH-funded study examining the impact of where people live on their brain health across the lifespan. They are an alumnus of the NationSwell Fellows Program for young social impact leaders and past NAMI NextGen Youth Advisor, an inaugural Mental Health Policy Fellow with Inseparable, and Board member of Youth MOVE National. Angel is currently a Junior Professional Researcher at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, where she is aiding with Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PCCARES), a project focused on developing community-led, research-informed suicide prevention education programs in remote Alaska Native communities.
Alina Yang
Pronouns: she/her
Alina Yang is a passionate advocate for youth empowerment to address food insecurity, healthcare disparities, and holistic student wellness. She plans to pursue studies in public health, with a focus on preventive care and community-based interventions. As the founder of Guardians of the Heart, a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to early heart disease prevention through lifestyle education, emphasizing mental health, nutrition, and physical activity, Alina is committed to advancing sustainable, youth-centered health outcomes that prioritize both physical and emotional well-being. Driven by the conviction that youth play a critical role as stakeholders in shaping the systems that impact them, she champions agency, awareness, and action in every space she enters. Based in New York, Alina enjoys creative writing, playing soccer, and dancing in her free time.
Amanda Stark
Pronouns: she/they
Amanda Stark is a Senior Project Manager at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, where she leads projects focused on youth mental health and substance use. Prior to joining the National Council, Amanda worked in academic retention and workforce development for individuals experiencing houselessness. Outside of her regular responsibilities, she volunteers on the Washington Area Frisbee Club’s Equity Committee. Amanda has her master’s degree in public health from George Washington University in DC. She resides in Northern Virginia, and spends her free time reading, walking with her dog, and collecting new hobbies.
Crystal Soto
Pronouns: she/her
Crystal Soto is a passionate advocate and systems-change leader with over a decade of experience advancing equity in behavioral health, youth advocacy, and community engagement across Colorado. She currently serves as the Youth Coordinator and Regional Coordinator for Colorado Family Hub, where she leads the development of a statewide Youth Advocacy Council centered on youth voice, healing, and policy reform. Crystal’s professional background spans both macro- and micro-level practice. She has served in director-level roles and was instrumental in initiating and expanding High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) services across Colorado in partnership with key agencies.
Crystal brings a dual lens to her work, rooted in both lived experience and clinical expertise. She completed her MSW at Colorado State University of Pueblo and is currently a doctoral candidate in Human Services. Her leadership has helped expand culturally responsive services for children, youth, and families involved in systems of care, particularly in rural and underserved communities. As the founder of Paradigm Pathways, a behavioral health practice focused on therapy, training, and consulting, she is committed to paving pathways toward healing and justice. Guided by the belief that youth are not just future leaders but powerful changemakers today, Crystal is dedicated to uplifting youth voices, dismantling systemic barriers, and creating inclusive spaces where all young people feel seen, heard, and empowered.
Ernesto Isaac Lara
Pronouns: he/him/his
Ernesto Isaac Lara (he/him/his) is a youth wellbeing activist, lived experience researcher, and peer support advocate on a mission to create a happier, healthier global community.
Rooted in his healing journey, Isaac has dedicated his early career to expanding access to peer support training and services. Currently, Isaac works at the Mental Health for All Lab at Harvard Medical School, where he leads the EMPOWER Peer Support Initiative. This endeavor aims to develop a digital, global peer support curriculum to equip those with lived experience of recovery to support others earlier in their healing journey. Beyond his full time role, Isaac furthers his mission as an advisor and consultant to organizations such as the World Health Organization, Global Mental Health Peer Network, Mental Health America, NAMI, Flourish Labs, Stanford Psychiatry, and Lancet Psychiatry. In recognition of his advocacy and research he was awarded the 2024 Mental Health America mPower Award and 2025 NTTAC Young Adult Champion Award.
Grace Robinson
Pronouns: Any Pronouns
Grace Robinson (any pronouns) is an advocate, an artist, and an organizer. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in theater performance, Grace started their career in autism education and is currently an organizer for Freedom Virginia. Their passion lies in storytelling and uplifting marginalized voices through art, organizing, and policy advocacy.
Jorge Alvarez
Pronouns: he/him
Jorge Alvarez is a mental health advocate, digital creator, and social impact strategist committed to reshaping how we talk about mental health—especially for BIPOC and Gen Z communities. He has worked with major platforms and institutions including MTV, TikTok, Pinterest, and the Biden-Harris Administration, helping lead culturally relevant campaigns that move beyond awareness and into action.
Jorge was selected as 1 of 30 young leaders for the White House Mental Health Youth Action Forum, where he collaborated on a campaign later supported by Pinterest. He has been recognized as a Young Innovator in Behavioral Health, featured in TIME, Fast Company, and The New York Times, and currently serves as Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Active Minds, one of the nation’s leading youth mental health nonprofits.
Through speaking, consulting, and storytelling, Jorge continues to advocate for systems-level change, uplifting youth voices and ensuring that mental health solutions are intersectional, community-centered, and rooted in lived experience.
Kate Barranco
Pronouns: she/her
Kate Barranco (she/her) is a researcher, strategist, and storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of youth lived experience, systems change, imagination, social connection, democracy, mental health, and intergenerational wellbeing. She is the founder of Conscious Futures Collaborative LLC, where she partners with mission-driven organizations to bring Gen Z perspectives into narrative design, strategy, and systems change. Kate has developed futures- and storytelling-based curriculum for youth changemaker programs, contributed trauma-informed youth insights to Democracy 2076’s national foresight work on the future of U.S. democracy, and co-authored publications on digital wellbeing, ecological belonging, and intergenerational trauma. She has also led participatory research on equity in early childhood leadership, designed social-ecological resilience frameworks in academic and social innovation contexts, and coordinated a global learning community focused on belonging and systemic transformation. Across these initiatives, Kate is committed to weaving together cultural insight, lived experience, and systemic imagination to reimagine how communities heal, belong, and build more equitable futures together.
Mario Jackson, EdD
Pronouns: he/him
Meghann Simpson
Pronouns: she/her
“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” is a quote by Mahatma Gandhi that Meghann applies to her personal and professional life. Meghann is a dedicated advocate, trainer, and consultant who blends lived expertise, academic training, and professional leadership to drive systems change and empower communities. Having navigated trauma, mental illness, addiction, and recovery, she brings a unique depth of empathy to her work and uses her personal journey as a foundation for helping others thrive.
Meghann holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Social Science with a Minor in African American Studies from the University at Buffalo. Her career spans work with youth facing severe emotional and behavioral challenges, adults with serious mental illness, LGBTQIA+ communities, and formerly incarcerated individuals. She has held leadership roles in peer support, survivor advocacy, civic engagement, and community education.
As Co-Founder of Now She Speaks, a peer-led nonprofit, Meghann develops training and advocacy initiatives to support survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. She also serves on multiple advisory boards and collaborates with organizations at the local, state, and national levels to advance youth voice and survivor leadership. Guided by the belief that healing and resilience are possible, Meghann is committed to creating spaces where survivors can reclaim their stories, speak their truth, and build meaningful, fulfilling lives.
Robert Penfold
Pronouns: He/Him/His
I do research designed to improve real-world mental health care for young people. I believe that incorporating the lived experience of young people into the design and conduct of research is critical. Only by listening to young people can we design and offer mental health services that address their needs.
I am a health services researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, Washington. My work focuses on developing and testing strategies to optimize behavioral health care delivery and patient outcomes—particularly in children and teens. My research addresses practical issues, such as how to reduce unnecessary use of antipsychotic medications. I also study ways to identify people experiencing suicidal thoughts and programs to reduce suicide attempts.
I am a co-investigator in the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a resource for studies on mental health conditions ranging from depression and anxiety to autism and psychosis. I lead the MHRN’s child and adolescent scientific interest group.
Shavontae Eason
I am a certified family peer support specialist /certified peer recovery supporter, and I’m also certified in Emotional CPR here in Cuyahoga County. I work with families and individuals in Cuyahoga County who struggle with mental and substance illnesses. I have overcome many challenges and adversities in life. I’m a mom of 9. I would love to someday turn my life story into a movie. I’m also an entrepreneur in the logistics industry. I truly enjoy helping the youth and their families.
Tyanna McClain
Pronouns: She/Her
Tyanna McClain is a Youth Advocacy Supervisor for a youth-led initiative that promotes positive youth voice and youth involvement. Her team focuses on the advocacy and advisory efforts for youth. She’s responsible for making sure youth are present on committees, youth are in a youth friendly environment, and youth voices are being heard throughout Wayne County System of Care in Michigan. Tyanna’s passion for helping others by sharing her experience and sharing her story is what led her to her career and she has lead her team for 10 years.
Sharing her poem about being a young mother has grown to be Tyanna’s strongest and most powerful way of sharing her story as well as being her favorite part in her position. Tyanna also takes pride in helping her team strive to be the best that they can be and empowering each of them to stay positive and achieve whatever goals they may be working towards. Tyanna also enjoys her role in also being a Youth MOVE Detroit Coordinator and assisting with Youth MOVE Michigan as well. She assist youth in the community with coordinating and facilitate meetings, identifying challenges that youth are facing, and bring changes to those issues one project at a time. In the mist of helping the community, she is helping youth build new skills, plan, and implement projects and presentation, hold leadership roles and become the leaders that our youth are meant to be.
Tyanna has built a host of professional and life skills and enjoys teaching others. She has also accomplished her goal in becoming an author, launching her first book in 2020, titled “Imperfection is Perfection: A 30-Day Journey to Self-Care & Self-Love” and then her poetry book title “Therapy Bound” in 2022. Tyanna plans on continuing down a successful path and she plans on helping youth, individuals, and families along the way.
Varsha Penumalee
Pronouns: She/Her
Varsha Penumalee is an undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is currently studying Biology with minors in Chemistry, Spanish, and Pre-Medicine. She serves as President of the Youth MOVE Virginia/NAMI Virginia Youth Advisory Board and Active Minds at VCU. Inspired by her lived experiences and advocacy journey, Varsha is passionate about creating inclusive spaces where youth feel seen, heard, and empowered to shape the future of mental health systems. She has also partnered with local nonprofits in Richmond to support historically marginalized communities and promote education equity. Varsha aspires to become a physician and policy leader focused on advancing health equity. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cycling, and giving back to her community through service.