Welcome to the Voices for Voices (VfV) Podcast, where we discuss the triumphs and challenges of real mental health journeys. We give ordinary people a platform on which to share their unique perspectives about living with disabilities, experiences in healing and thriving with mental illness, and more. 

Stay tuned for meaningful and eye-opening chats with me, your host, Justin Alan Hayes, as we share, listen, learn, and love fellow humans as they continue to grow and flourish in their own way.

In this episode, Justin Alan Hayes interviews Leslie Powlette-Stoyer and Ron Rett, Co-Executive Director's at NAMI Summit County. Leslie & Ron describe the mission, vision, history and the future outlook for the organization.

Leslie just celebrated her tenth year as Co-Executive Director of NAMI Summit County. NAMI Summit County is a grassroots, self-help organization formed in 1986. It is comprised of families and friends, and those impacted by severe mental illness. It is a local affiliate of NAMI Ohio and the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) which was founded in 1979. The mission of NAMI Summit County is to improve the quality of life for families and individuals who are impacted by mental illness through support, education, and advocacy.
NAMI Summit County was named Affiliate of the Year in April 2021 by NAMI Ohio. In 2018, NAMI Summit County was presented with an Award of Excellence at the Morgan Impact Awards Dinner for exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships among organizations and finding ways to focus on solutions, not problems. After relocating to the Akron area in 2000, Leslie volunteered for NAMI Summit County as well as other Summit County nonprofits. Prior to that, Leslie practiced law in Morristown, New Jersey concentrating in corporate and real estate litigation. She served as Law Clerk to the Honorable John J. Harper, Superior Court of New Jersey, and is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law and Cedar Crest College. She sits on several local mental health advisory committees, including Summit County Maternal Depression Network, Summit County Mental Health Courts (municipal and common pleas), New Day Court (probate division).

Prior to serving as Co-Executive Director of NAMI Summit County in 2011, Ron was Consultant to NAMI Ohio and NEOUCOM, Mental Health Medication Hotline Physician Contact Project.  He served as Director of the Mental Health Housing Program for NAMI Ohio from June 2006 through July of 2009.  He has an extensive sales and management background having worked at Enterprise Rental Car and a regional sales manager for Orthocom.  He is a graduate of Ohio University and certified in Six Sigma.  He sits on many local mental health agency boards and advisory committees.

You can reach NAMI Summit County at:
Email: info@namisummit.org
Phone: 330-252-1188
Website: www.namisummit.org
National website:  www.nami.org

This has been the Voices for Voices Podcast, thank you for joining us. VfV is a 501c3 nonprofit founded to provide a platform for folks to share their stories with others as we work to break the negative stigma around mental health and disabilities. In the future VfV will provide free mental health care to those in need throughout the community. Voices for Voices is a 501c3 that survives solely by charitable contributions. Donate