APA Foundation Administration

Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq. is the Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APA Foundation). Before joining the APA Foundation, Rawle held several progressively responsible management positions with AARP over 15 years, including most recently as a vice president and a member of the AARP national leadership team. He was in the private practice of law before joining AARP. Rawle holds a JD, with honors, from the Howard University School of Law, a BA in Psychology from Texas Southern University, and an executive leadership certificate from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Rawle also is a two-term president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Lifetime Member of Leadership Maryland, and a past D.C. Bar Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year.

Amy Porfiri serves as the Managing Director of APAF, where she directs and oversees the financial, operations, governance, and compliance functions for the Foundation. Amy is committed to strengthening and expanding the bridge between psychiatry and the community through her leadership of the APAF Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership, a collaboration of psychiatrists and faith leaders representing diverse faith traditions to develop educational tools and resources, including Mental Health: A Guide for Faith Leaders. In addition, Amy has managed special projects including the re-establishment of the Melvin Sabshin, M.D. Library & Archives.

Prior to joining APAF, Amy served as the Director of Finance and Administration in the APA Division of Research where she supported the development of DSM-5 and research grants. In 2018, Amy received the Melvin Sabshin M.D. Award, selected annually by the APA CEO/Medical Director, in recognition of one’s dedication and extraordinary contributions to APA. Amy received an M.B.A. degree from University of Massachusetts and B.A. from Carleton College.

Dr. Hodzic joined the Foundation as Director of Fellowships, Mentorship and Medical Education in 2023. She served as the service chief of Psychiatric Urgent Care at Sheppard Pratt – Towson. She also served as associate training director for the University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt Psychiatry Residency Program, where she completed her residency. Dr. Hodzic earned her MD at the University of Maryland. She previously served as medical director of Psychiatric Emergency Services at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Angela Jones, M.B.A. leads Development for APAF. Prior to joining APAF, Angela was Vice President, Global Enterprise Client Partnerships, at Bright Horizons with responsibility for the growth of the largest and most complex clients across the Workforce Education, Family Care and Centers lines of business. She previously spent 15 years at AARP in various roles including Senior Vice President, Lifestyle Products and Senior Vice President, Business Development overseeing strategy, marketing and development of products and services for AARPs 38 million members. Prior to AARP, Angela was an Executive Marketing Director at AOL propelling the growth of the subscription business and digital advertising and acquisition strategy accounting for $1.5B of AOL’s annual operating revenue. She began her career at Sallie Mae as a data analyst. Angela holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Gerontology and an MBA from the University of South Florida.

Betsy Schwartz drives the advancement of mental health by working with organizations and philanthropists to build or expand their capacity to grow evidence-based mental health services. Her exemplary career enables her to facilitate scaling an organizational infrastructure to bring initiatives and public policy into action and to expand their programs. This includes assessment of human and financial resources, design options and business models and culminates in optimal strategies. External strategy includes the exploration of partnerships, influencer support, and revenue sources.

Schwartz draws upon her years of mental health experience at the local, state, and national levels. As a leader in mental health public policy, she has a track record of designing and implementing legislative action. As CEO of a nonprofit organization, she has practical knowledge for mobilizing board members, empowering professional teams, and garnering private funding.

Schwartz has demonstrated the power of community engagement to solve complex problems. Noteworthy examples of this work resulted in the creation of the first ever mental health unit in the Houston Police Department and a multi-year stakeholder consensus building strategy that transformed the Houston juvenile justice system. Schwartz has a hands-on understanding of how to respond to mental health issues including crisis care, maternal mental health, public awareness initiatives.

On a national level, as Vice President of Public Education at the National Council for Wellbeing she led the expansion of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). MHFA is a public education program taught throughout the USA and in 30 countries.

She is a Senior Fellow with the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Institute and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum and WK Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Alliance. Among her numerous awards, Schwartz received the Houston Psychological Association’s Public Citizen of the Year and the Houston Chronicle Women on the Move. Her volunteer work includes membership on multiple local and state boards of directors and President of the Board of the Houston Coalition for the Homeless. She has a Masters in Social Work Administration from the University of Houston and a Bachelor’s of Science from University of Denver.

Rachel Gearhart serves as the Manager of Operations and Partnerships for the APA Foundation. She drives the success of executing APAF’s mission and implementation of the strategic plan in collaboration with APA/APAF leadership through stewardship of strategic partnerships, relationship management, and national public awareness campaigns. As project manager for the Mental Health Care Works campaign, Rachel is committed to sharing the message that: “Mental Health Care Works When You Make the Call.” In addition, Rachel serves as the staff liaison for the Chester M. Pierce Human Rights Award, the O'Leary Award for Innovation in Psychiatry, the Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health, and the DC Adopt-A-School Partnership. In 2023, Rachel received the Sunshine Star Award, selected annually by the APA CEO/Medical Director, in recognition of an employee who has gone above and beyond and has shown outstanding dedication, initiative, motivation, and positive attitude.

Prior to joining the APAF, Rachel served as the Assistant Director at the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI). She graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Education. During her time at UCSB, Rachel served as a research assistant at the Koegel Autism Center, an outdoor guide for UCSB’s Excursion Club, and a volunteer for the student-run radio station, KCSB 91.9. With a passion for people, Rachel seeks opportunities that allow her to educate and empower the local community. Most of her work experience post-graduation has been with non-profit organizations. Rachel’s interests include mental health awareness, ocean conservation, and early childhood education.

Ms. Rudy Scott is the Executive Assistant in the Office of the Executive Director for the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APA Foundation). She brings over 25+ years of experience as an executive assistant to CEO’s, presidents and other C-Suite executives. Before joining the APA Foundation, Ms. Rudy served as an executive assistant or senior administrative assistant to executive leadership of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Deloitte, Booz Allen, Airbus, and Michael Baker International, among other premiere organizations. She attended Strayer University and Northern Virginia Community College. She also holds certificates from Leadership Fairfax, the EA Bootcamp program of Smart Events International, and she is a Notary of Public for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Lilia joined the APA Foundation in September 2016 and has held multiple Development roles in her time here. She oversees corporate and foundation partnerships, development campaigns, events and general public outreach. In her past roles, Lilia helped manage the American Registry of MRI Technologists' Annual Meetings and worked in wine sales and as executive assistant at Schneider's of Capitol Hill. Lilia holds a B.A. from Purchase College at the State University of New York.

Jackie Zovko serves as the Senior Manager, Donor Engagement at APAF. Jackie is an accomplished marketing professional with 20 years of expertise in strategy, campaign messaging, and analytics. Passionate about mission-driven initiatives, she has guided over 100 small businesses in growth strategy, digital marketing, and discovering new market opportunities. Her experience encompasses crafting omnichannel campaigns for public-private partnerships and collaborating with clients across various sectors including government, consumer goods, and Fortune 500 companies. Former clients include the American Nurses Association, Whole Foods Market, Arlington County, and WMATA. Jackie holds a BA in Marketing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Shayla Gerity joined the American Psychiatric Association Foundation in 2022 as Program Manager for the Center for Workplace Mental Health. In her prior role, Shayla was a Well-being Specialist with Adventist Healthcare in Maryland. Her primary role was designing and implementing well-being programs for the hospital staff across three regional hospitals. In past roles, Shayla has worked as both a government and private contractor working in the Employee Health field. Shayla earned her B.S. in Kinesiology at Penn State University.

Dr. Camille Bryan joined the APA Foundation in 2018 as a Senior Program Manager where she directs the daily operations for the APA/APAF Fellowships team, the programming for the APA/APA Foundation Fellowships and SAMHSA-funded MFP grants, and serves as the lead APA/APAF contact with MFP SAMHSA external partners. Before joining the foundation, Dr. Bryan served as the founding manager for the National Scholarships Office at the University of Maryland and the Associate Director for Workforce Development for the government of the District of Columbia. Dr. Bryan has extensive experience preparing students for nationally competitive scholarships and has served as a scholarship reader for the U.S. Department of Education Jacob Javits Fellowship, the James Madison Fellowship, and the Orphan Foundation to name a few. Dr. Bryan has also worked as the Director for Programs for the National Bar Association and Senior Program Manager for the Council for Professional Recognition. Dr. Bryan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the West Indies and her Masters and Doctorate degrees from the George Washington University.

Lynsey first joined the American Psychiatric Association as Temporary Administrative Assistant for the Division of Diversity and Health Equity. She was then hired full-time as Program Coordinator for the SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Program under the American Psychiatric Association Foundation. She attended Bowie State University for a Bachelor of Business Administration and plans to return for her Bachelor of Science in Human Resources. Prior to working at APA, Lynsey worked in Finance at a bank and a credit union.

Kate Berg serves as the Program Director, School and Justice Initiatives. Kate has been an advocate for mental health and comprehensive wrap-around support for youth for over fifteen years. She has worked both directly in and in collaboration with schools, districts, and regional/state education entities ensuring educational environments meet the diverse needs of both students and educators. In her most recent role as Associate Director of Programs and Strategy with the national nonprofit Alliance for a Healthier Generation, she led a team of program managers on various initiatives across 70 school districts in the US supporting program implementation, evaluation, and program improvement. These programs were designed to promote policy and systems change using the whole child health framework predominantly focused on mental health and wellbeing. Prior to this, Kate served in various educational roles, including public school teacher, School Counselor, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Coordinator, and Student Success Manager. She holds a M.A. in School Counseling from the University of South Florida and a B.A. in Developmental Psychology from Florida State University.

Jeri Thuku joined the APA Foundation in 2023 as the Program Manager of School and Justice Initiatives. Prior to joining APAF, Jeri was a Senior Program Coordinator with Jhpiego, a non-profit organization, where she supported programs in East Africa. Her primary role was monitoring and tracking projects, including ensuring project timelines and scopes were adhered to. In past roles, Jeri has worked in the domestic and international global health space, with organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, HealthHIV, and the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. In those roles, Jeri primarily focused on capacity building, HIV/AIDS, and research and evaluation. Jeri has published two journal articles in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), including “Providers PrEP: Identifying Primary Health Care Providers' Biases as Barriers to Provision of Equitable PrEP Services” and "A Landscape Analysis of Prevention of Vertical Transmission Program Data and Interventions from Fiscal Years 2019 to 2021". Jeri earned her B.S. in Community Health from George Mason University and her Master's in Public Health from George Washington University.

Deena Gorland has more than 25 years of professional photography experience in the nonprofit world. She earned a BFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MSLIS from The Catholic University of America. She established her career at the National Geographic Society, contributing to significant digitization projects like Image Collections, Save the Archives, and the Electronic Magazine Archives (EMA). Additionally, while at National Geographic, she worked on digitizing the Smithsonian Institution’s certified stamp plate proof collection for the National Postal Museum.

Deena also worked as a contracted museum technician at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, an experience that inspired her to pursue further education in the preservation and digitization of special collections. Since 2018, she has been the Associate Director of Archives at the Melvin Sabshin, M.D., Library & Archives, where she focuses on preserving the assets of the American Psychiatric Association and the history of psychiatry.

Dana Harris is the Communications Manager for the APA Foundation and leads the Foundation Communications team in establishing strategy for and executing the day-to-day, and long-term communications activities for the Foundation as well as supporting external communications efforts for the American Psychiatric Association. Dana joined the APA Foundation Administration in 2022.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Harris was the Communications Manager for the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and was responsible for creating and implementing web and social media strategies, and developing marketing campaigns to reach development goals. Other roles include time with the National Health Law Program and NeighborWorks America.

Ms. Harris earned a B.S. in Communications from Old Dominion University.

KC Hodge serves as the APA Foundation's graphic designer and leverages a variety of visual communication mediums to promote the mission of the Foundation. At both the APA and APAF, their work focuses on designing materials for external communication needs, managing web updates, and developing promotional and educational video content. Prior to APAF, KC worked as a designer in both government and private contracting. KC holds a B.A. in Art and Design with a minor in Illustration from Iowa State University.

Jackson Eisner is excited to support the fellows as the Program Coordinator for the APA Foundation. Jackson provides support to daily operations of the APAF Funded Fellowships Programs and the Psychiatry Ambassadors and Student Scholars (PASS) Program. Jackson started with the APAF in September, 2024.

In May 2024, Jackson earned his B.A in Psychology at the University of Maryland. Jackson is also a life-long passionate fan of the Washington Commanders; he supports the organization on gamedays and events with the Event Security and Logistics team for the 2024-2025 season.