Daniel Gillison

As the current Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Daniel H. Gillison, Jr. provides strategic leadership to the organization. With more than 30 years of professional experience, Gillison's commitment to mental health advocacy is driven by personal lived experiences with mental illness and its impact on families. Before joining NAMI, he led the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF), the nonprofit arm of the American Psychiatric Association. He is also involved in various partnerships and initiatives related to mental health support, including NAMI Homefront Mental Health Resources Partners, NAMI Sharing Hope and NAMI Compartiendo Esperanza Partners, COVID-19 Mental Health Support Fund, and Frontline Wellness Partners.

Gillison's service extends to several councils and boards, including the National Institute of Health (NIH)’s Advisory Mental Health Council, the Lululemon Global Wellbeing Advisory Board, the National Health Council Board of Directors, and the Austen Riggs Center Board of Trustees. His leadership at NAMI has seen him assemble a coalition of leaders from national mental health organizations such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychiatric Association, and Mental Health America, in an effort to improve the country's care system.

NAMI, under Gillison's leadership, advocates for increased funding for research of serious brain disorders and works with non-partisan VoteRiders to spread state-specific information on voter ID requirements. The organization also offers extensive programs like the NAMI Family-to-Family and NAMI Peer-to-Peer. His engagement in these, along with his consistent public appearances advocating for mental health awareness and support, have seen him recognized in various platforms like Lifestyle magazine and the NonProfit Times 2022 Power & Influence Top 50 List.