APA Foundation Administration

Daniel H. Gillison, Jr. joined the APA Foundation in June of 2016 as Executive Director. Over the past three years, Daniel has been a transformational leader, whose vision for the APA Foundation has continued to shape its mission, growth and impact. Under his leadership the APA Foundation now manages 25 awards and 8 fellowships supporting over 120 psychiatric fellows annually. Additionally, he leads 12 program and partnership initiatives in ways that support the profession of psychiatry and foster community awareness where you live, learn, work and worship. As a result of Daniel’s business acumen, ability to inspire support and savvy relationship management experience, APA Foundation continues to be known as a leader in the mental health non-profit space. Previously, Daniel was the Director of County Solutions and Innovation at the National Association of Counties (NACo). There, he oversaw outreach development and technical assistance efforts and was responsible for the programs and practice areas of Health and Human Services, Professional Development, Education Training, Conferences and Events, and Business Development, as well as several grant-based initiatives. Daniel has over 30 years of experience and has previously held leadership positions at Xerox, Nextel, and Sprint. Dan holds a B.A. from Southern University and A&M College.

Brittany joined the Foundation in December 2016. Prior to her appointment at the APA Foundation, Brittany served as the Public Affairs Coordinator at the National Association of Counties. In that role, she was responsible for administrative assistance to the Director of Public Affairs as well as program support to department staff. Brittany was also responsible for managing NACO’s National Awards program which realized a 36% increase in participation during her tenure. Brittany received a B.S. degree from George Mason University.

Amy joined the APA Foundation in 2012. Her tenure at APA began in 2000 as the Director of Finance and Administration in the APA Division of Research and American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, the former research subsidiary of APA. In this role, she provided support to the development of DSM-5 and research grant projects. As Deputy Director, Amy directs and oversees the financial, operations, governance, and compliance functions for the Foundation. She has advanced the initiatives and goals of the Foundation by managing major projects including the reestablishment of the Melvin Sabshin, MD Library & Archives in APA’s new headquarters and the Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership. Amy received an M.B.A. degree from University of Massachusetts and B.A. from Carleton College.

Kit Hall, CFRE joined the APA Foundation team in November 2018 as their Director of Development. She has served in non-profit fundraising roles for almost 15 years, most recently as Director of Development and Corporate Relations for Financial Executives International where she oversaw all development initiatives for their non-profit research affiliate, as well as Corporate Membership and Conference Sponsorship. She received her BA from Brown University.

Lindsey Fox is the Development Officer, Corporate and Foundation Relationships for the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF). Her tenure at APA began in 2009 in sales for American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc (APPI), the present-day APA Publishing Division. Throughout the next few years, Lindsey successfully managed and exceeded an advertising budget of over $4m while supervising an external team of 3, and created the first job board of the American Psychiatric Association, APA Job Central. In early 2015, Lindsey was recruited to the APA Foundation to head their corporate fundraising and programmatic activities; in which, she worked to increase giving by 50%. In addition, Lindsey began a rigorous evaluation of the Typical or Troubled? (ToT) Program alongside the APA Division of Research, increased the reach of the Judges and Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative (JPLI), and managed partner relationships within the Stepping Up Initiative. In mid-2017, Lindsey moved over to the Development Officer role to focus on grant writing and fundraising strategy for all entities providing support to mental health programs in the space. Lindsey received a B.A. in Media Studies with a concentration in journalism; as well as a minor in Psychology from Radford University, located in southern Virginia.

Darcy Gruttadaro joined the APA Foundation in 2017 as the director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health. As director, she is developing and implementing the Center's strategic direction in providing employers high impact tools and resources to support the mental health of employees and their families. Before joining the Center, Ms. Gruttadaro served in multiple senior positions with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Ms. Gruttadaro has expertise in effective approaches to expanding evidence-based practices, improving early intervention, securing insurance coverage for mental health services and building a broader array of effective services and supports that promote resiliency and recovery. Ms. Gruttadaro has also worked with national organizations representing managed care organizations and practiced law with the Harris Beach law firm, concentrating her legal practice on health care and mental health related issues. She served as a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Ms. Gruttadaro earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Clarkson University and a JD from Western New England University School of Law.

Ewuria joined the Foundation in November of 2016 to manage key initiatives within the Foundation’s workplace mental health program. Ewuria previously served as the Director of Health Promotion at Well Space, LLC, a company that provides wellness programs to employers. Ewuria is a certified clinical exercise specialist, nutritionist, and a certified CPR instructor. She also speaks French and is a classically trained vocalist. Ewuria holds two B.A. degrees from the University of Toledo and a M.S. degree from American University.

Christopher Seeley, MSW is the Program Director of School and Justice Initiatives for the APA Foundation. Prior to his appointment at the APAF, Chris served as the Direct Therapy Intern at Michigan State University Counseling Center. He provided short-term therapy to a diverse client population while also assisting in weekly multicultural and racial awareness trainings. Chris was also the Assistant Community Director supervising and coaching resident directors at Michigan State. Christopher facilitated social skill building groups for at-risk high school students at Starr Commonwealth Detroit, along with delivering individual and family therapy. He also has experience as an advocate and field instructor for the Michigan State University Adolescent Project, was a Program Director for a Support and Education Group for low-risk Juvenile Sex Offenders, a Juvenile Detention Specialist for the Ingham County Youth Center, and a case manager for a national youth mentoring organization. Christopher earned BA's in Psychology and Criminal Justice as well as a Master’s in Clinical Social Work from Michigan State University.

Lilia joined the APA Foundation in September 2016 and oversees donation tracking, donor relations, and provides programmatic support for the Foundation. In addition, she manages the website, social media and general public outreach. She loves co-organizing the Fun Run at the APA Annual Meeting and is often found at the Foundation booth at APA meetings throughout the year. 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.

Deena Gorland has a B.F.A. in photography from San Francisco Art Institute and M.S.L.I.S. from The Catholic University of America. Her 20 years of experience as a professional photographer landed her a career working for the National Geographic Society on multiple digitization projects such as: Image Collections, Save the Archives and Electronic Magazine Archives (EMA).

In addition, her time with National Geographic, she digitized the Smithsonian Institutions, National Postal Museums certified stamp plate proof collection.

More recently, she contracted at National Museum of African American History and Culture as a museum technician, which inspired her to pursue an advanced degree focusing on preservation and digitization of special collections.