Our Team
Aracely Garcia (she/her)
Aracely met NAMI in January 2021, starting as a participant and volunteer, and later becoming certified as a teacher and Support Group Facilitator. She is originally from Jalisco, Mexico, where she graduated with a Law Degree, since one of her passions is to defend the rights of the most vulnerable communities. Her fate brought her to the United States in 2010, and she has resided in California ever since. Aracely works as a Community Health Leader informing and connecting her community with the resources they need. Caring for family members living with mental health challenges, she knows how important it is to provide families with the education and support they need. Aracely joined NAMI S.F. in 2023 as Latinx Community Liaison and her goal is to connect the Latino community with all the resources that NAMI offers.
Latinx Cultural Liason
916-796-6252
Cinthya Romero
Latinx Liason
Cinthya Romero fist got involved with NAMI SF when she took the Persona a Persona class last winter. The experience she had with the group and the information she found in the class was very helpful both for herself, and inspired her to become a Persona-to-Persona teacher and continue to learn the materials. She is excited to add more mental health programs in Spanish and inform Latino people of the available resources so they can benefit both themselves and their relatives.
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Sharon Thompson (she/her)
BIPOC Cultural Facilitator, Presenter & Educator
Sharon had spent the majority of her career traveling internationally and nationally as a corporate meeting and event planner, when the 2020 pandemic brought her work to a standstill. During a severe depressive episode, a lightbulb came on and she felt moved to find an opportunity to serve and find work that was more meaningful to her life and regain hope and healing. Because many family members, including herself, struggle with moderate to severe mental health issues, discovering NAMI SF, became the obvious choice to start that journey and she decided to volunteer by facilitating the BIPOC and Peer to Peer Support Groups and found healing through the service of sharing her story, as well as offering support to others. She is honored to have gained the opportunity to fulfill a higher role as the BIPOC Cultural Facilitator, Presenter & Educator
(415) 763-8705
Kelly Ma /Hai Yan Ma (she/her)
Chinese Community Liaison
(Kelly)Hai Yan Ma and joined NAMI SF in 2021 as Chinese Community Liaison. She is originally from Guangdong China and immigrated to San Francisco with her family. She has experience in customer service over 15 years and has been taking care of a close family member with mental health challenges. After getting connected with NAMI, Kelly learned a lot about the needs of people with mental illness and gained support from the Family to Family class. It led her to join NAMI as a volunteer and then as a staff member to support families and community members facing similar difficulties.
(415) 295-2701
Andrew Tuttle (he/him)
Director of Community & Education Outreach
Andrew Tuttle joined NAMI SF in the spring of 2021 as the Community Education Program Manager. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Andrew attended college in Minnesota and worked for an independent restaurant company in Minneapolis following graduation. After moving back to California, he served as the distribution manager for a brewery in San Francisco. Andrew identifies as a peer in the mental health community and found NAMI as a volunteer presenter, sharing his experience with mental health conditions when he was a teenager. Currently, a significant part of Andrew's job is engaging communities around mental health education, stigma reduction, and how to locate existing resources.
Ashley Brown (she/her)
Family Services Director
Ashley joined NAMI SF in 2021 as the Director of Family Services Director. While she is originally from sunny Southern California, she moved to San Francisco over 10 years ago and still marvels at the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge. Her background in corporate events and her personal experience with her mental health and supporting several loved ones with mental health conditions led her to NAMI originally for information and action plan. As a participant, then a volunteer then staff member, she discovered a passion for starting conversations to reduce stigma, sharing resources, and increasing mental health education to create a community where we all feel supported and a little less alone.
Simone Baggetto (she/her)
Peer Services Director & Volunteer Coordinator
Simone is the Peer Services Director and Volunteer Coordinator. Originally from Chicago, she moved to San Francisco in 2016. Prior to working at NAMI SF she studied psychology and was a volunteer support group facilitator. Through her volunteer work, she found her calling in Peer work. As someone living with Bipolar I and ADHD herself, Simone has directly benefited from peer programs and credits them in part for her ability to cope with mental health challenges. In her role at NAMI SF, she hopes to make peer programs more widely available and empower people living with mental health conditions to advocate for themselves and their community.
Board of Directors
Tessa D'Arcangelew Ampersand
Board President
Leslie Arita
Andrea Berman
Catherine Brady
David Elliot Lewis, PhD
Dr. Shrestha Basu Mallick
Kelly Prichett
Andy Simmons
Bonnie Schwartz
Winifred Werther
Stephanie Yee
Kelly Xia
Aisha Williamson-Raun (she/her)
Resource Coordinator
Aisha joined NAMI SF in 2022 identifying as a peer and began volunteering as an educational presenter. Now, she is our Resource Coodinator connecting members of the community with mental health supports and services. As a graduate from the University of San Francisco with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Public Service & Community Engagement, her interests have focused on multicultural psychology and mental health equity. She is passionate about providing accessibility and representation to psychology and mental health efforts. Aisha is originally from San Fernando Valley, CA near Los Angeles. She enjoys spending time outside at the beach, parks, gardens, hikes, or anywhere near a nice tree. You can also find her snuggled up with a good book, coloring, or hanging out a cafe with some friends. Aisha is eager to help others find the resources they need to improve their day-to-day livelihoods with care and support.
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