Nami National

“NAMI is a member organization. NAMI membership takes three forms: (1) individual members, who belong to local affiliates and whose enrollment determines their respective affiliate's voting power, (2) affiliates, the local NAMI presence and major voting unit within the organization, and (3) state organizations, which each have a vote and serve to support and coordinate the affiliates within their respective states. The affiliates and state organizations vote to elect the NAMI national board of directors and to amend the NAMI bylaws.”

“The annual meeting of the members of NAMI shall be held in the summer unless otherwise directed by the Board of Directors, on such dates and at such place as the Board of Directors shall designate. Voting members representing 20% of the voting power of the membership shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the members. Voting members shall designate delegates to vote at the annual meeting. Voting members may be represented by written proxy. The delegates shall act by majority vote at any meeting of the voting members at which a quorum is present, except as may be specifically provided to the contrary elsewhere in the Bylaws. Voting may be conducted by absentee ballot, or onsite. All affiliates and state organizations in good standing are eligible to vote. Those delegates whose affiliate or state organization is in good standing but who did not meet the credentialing deadlines may seek to vote on site. Every effort will be made to make this possible, assuming verification of the individual's role and identity can be confirmed.”

“Revisions or amendments may be proposed by any voting member, or by any Director. Any such proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing by United States Postal Service, either by registered mail, certified mail, Express Mail or Priority Mail, or any other USPS service offering Return Receipts or Signature Confirmation to a Bylaws Committee not less than ninety (90) days prior to the date of the next annual meeting. Each voting member shall receive all proposed revisions or amendments to the Bylaws not less than thirty (30) days prior to the next annual meeting. A two-thirds majority of the voting power of the membership voting shall be required to amend the Bylaws.”

“The entire board receives a copy of the return and meets to review, discuss and approve the return for filing.”

“Any employee of NAMI who believes they may have a conflict of interest must indicate those conflicts in writing and send them to the Chief Financial Officer's confidential attention for resolution. The NAMI board monitors potential conflicts of interest by requiring an annual disclosure statement from each member which must be reviewed and updated quarterly, based on updated vendor and donor information, prior to each board meeting. Board members discuss their disclosures quarterly and determine what recusal or other action may be appropriate and under what circumstances. This process is codified in the board's operating policies and procedures manual.”

“The salary for the Executive Director is determined and approved by the Board of Directors. Salary decisions for all employees are made using comparability data for similar positions in comparable organizations.”

“NAMI makes its Form 1023 available upon request. NAMI makes available a public disclosure copy of its Federal Form 990 on its website and upon request.”

“NAMI makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, strategic plan and audited financial statements available for view online.”

“Since its inception in 1979, NAMI has established itself as the most formidable grassroots mental health advocacy organization in the country. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raise awareness and build a community for hope for all of those in need. NAMI is the foundation for hundreds of NAMI State Organizations, NAMI Affiliates and volunteer leaders who work in local communities across the country to raise awareness and provide essential and free education, advocacy and support group programs. NAMI's website, www.nami.org, features the latest information on mental illnesses, medication and treatment and resources for support and advocacy. Other features include online discussion groups and fact sheets.”

“NAMI on Campus program continued to grow at a rapid pace at colleges and universities. At the end of 2013, NAMI had 53 active clubs, with 173 clubs in the process of being formed. Sixty seven additional college students have expressed interest in forming a club on their campus. In addition, NAMI developed education resources specifically for the North-American Intrafraternity Conference and National Pan Hellenic Council, which represent fraternities and sororities nation-wide. NAMI also continued its support for StrengthofUs.org, an online social community for teens and young adults living with mental illness where they can connect while learning about services, supports and handling the unique challenges and opportunities of transition age years. In 2013, NAMI's Multicultural Action Center launched a year-long capacity-building initiative, "Building Together," in which technical assistance was provided to six NAMI State Organizations for leadership development, strategic planning, and communications for diversity. The Multicultural Action Center also launched "Compartiendo Esperzana," a bilingual program for the Latino community, based on NAMI's "Sharing Hope" program for the African American community. NAMIWalks enjoyed great success in 2013. More than 85 events engaged more than 150,000 walkers and supporters who raised more than $10 million to support local programs. The funds raised will be used to provide educational and support programs at no cost to those impacted by mental illness. The NAMI Information HelpLine responded to nearly 200,000 requests in 2013 from individuals needing support, referral and information. More than 60 fact sheets on a variety of topics are available along with referrals to NAMI's network of NAMI Affiliates in communities across the country. www.nami.org/helpline (800) 950-NAMI (6264) The fall 2013 edition of the Advocate featured a message to NAMI from President Barak Obama, acknowledging the "long and sometimes lonely battle to change the way we treat mental illness in this country." The President expressed his deepest thanks to NAMI for all that the organization does. NAMI's "You Are Not Alone" Public Education Campaign on Mental Illness won the PR News award in "On a Shoe-String Campaign" category. The campaign utilized Web publishing and social media to solicit and promote first-hand written and video testimony from individuals and families affected by mental illness-to fight stigma, inspire others and educate the broader public. The NAMI campaign is considered one of the "best of the best" in communications strategies that will have large cultural impact and be referred to in years to come.”

“NAMI achieved tremendous milestones in its education programs in 2013. The federal government added NAMI Family-to-Family to the National Registry of Evidence-Based Mental Health Programs. The NAMI Family-to-Family program leads to positive life changes for participants that enable them to feel more in control of their own lives. This is a major accomplishment for any program, but for a course that is provided by trained volunteers with the "lived experience," it is an even greater feat. The results of the study are an endorsement of the quality of the program as well as the competence of the volunteer teachers who have committed their time and energy to adhering to the integrity and fidelity of the model in which they were trained. Other 2013 accomplishments included the launch of NAMI Ending the Silence to inform teens about the signs and symptoms of mental illness and to help combat the stigma and end the silence around mental health issues in this group. The program sends presenters into high school classrooms and is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about mental illness from the lived experience of individuals and family members and short videos. The program is active in 15 states. The NAMI Homefront program was launched in order to more directly serve family members of active military personnel and veterans with symptoms of mental illness. The new program is a six-session adaptation of the evidence-based NAMI Family-to-Family program. In 2014, NAMI will begin to implement this new program in six states. Trained teachers in the program have family members who themselves are service members or veterans who live with mental illness. The program will be held in VA facilities in Maryland, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Illinois. Future plans include a free online option for presenting the program. NAMI released grants to help eight NAMI State Organizations expand their NAMI Parents and Teachers as Allies programs. This two-hour in-service program helps school professionals identify the warning signs of early-onset mental illnesses in children and adolescents in schools and shares the lived experiences of young persons living with mental illness and their family. NAMI has trained and certified over 3,100 new volunteer teachers who, in turn, have educated more than 120,000 families and individuals through our peer-led programs. A total of 114 VA hospitals and medical centers in 47 states are hosting NAMI classes to provide education, resources, and information about mental illness families of veterans. NAMI has trained more than 525 volunteers who live with mental illness to present their own story in NAMI in Our Own Voice, to over 50,000 audience members. This program is an opportunity for those who have struggled with mental illness to gain confidence and to share their individual experiences of recovery and transformation. Presentations are given to consumer groups, students, law enforcement officials, educators, providers, faith community members, politicians, professionals, inmates, and interested civic groups.”

“Accomplishments in 2013 include: NAMI issued its state legislation report, State Legislation 2013: Trends, Themes and Best Practices in Mental Health Legislation. The report surveys legislation enacted by state legislatures in 2013 and summarizes trends, themes and best practices in mental health legislation. The report is intended as a resource for state NAMI leaders as they prepare state legislative advocacy strategies for 2014. NAMI published updated content on Supported Employment to include resources on employment and mental illness, psychiatric disability and reasonable accommodation and models of supported employment. NAMI continues to work on behalf of individuals living with mental illness who come in contact with the criminal justice system. The past year represented the 25th anniversary of the first police Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), which NAMI helped establish in Memphis. Today, there are more than 2,000 CIT programs nationwide. NAMI's CIT Center provides information and technical assistance to law enforcement, mental health professionals and other stakeholders, working to divert people from jails or prisons into treatment. NAMI also worked with a coalition of criminal justice and mental health groups to reauthorize the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, federal legislation that supports a variety of approaches to jail diversion and community reentry for individuals in the justice system with mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders. NAMI's "Got You Covered" was launched to educate on the opportunities and challenges of health care reform implementation. The campaign includes a series of fact sheets and toolkits to help people understand how health care reform impacts those living with mental illness. NAMI participated in an invitation-only White House Interagency Task Force Meeting on Military and Veterans Mental Health and provided feedback and recommendations improving mental health and substance abuse treatment services for veterans, service members and their families. NAMI continues to develop the Resiliency Program: Empowering Women Veterans with emphasis on cultivating relationships with key veterans service organizations and various other stakeholders. The Resiliency Project is a pilot program aimed at developing a model outreach program to improve access to services and benefits for women veterans suffering with post-deployment stress and/or trauma-related mental health disorders. Improved access to services and benefits is expected to foster emotional empowerment by enhancing the ability of women veterans to respond to or bounce back from the stress of war in a healthy and functional way, and successfully transition from military to civilian life. NAMI is increasing its capacity to provide support and resources to female veterans through our grassroots. A second national NAMI Smarts teacher training was held. A total of 26 teachers were trained from 13 states, with a total of 24 states implementing the program. NAMI Smarts is a hands-on advocacy training program that helps people living with mental illness, friends and family transform their passion and lived experience into skillful grassroots advocacy. NAMI released a report describing the importance of Medicaid in mental health service delivery and making the case for Medicaid expansion as the best opportunity states have to strengthen their mental health systems. Up to 30 percent of currently uninsured adults who would receive health care coverage through state Medicaid expansions are individuals living with mental illness. The report included policy recommendations and a number of state-specific appendices with information and statistics about Medicaid mental health services.”

“NAMI's Audit Committee assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of its independent accountant. This process is consistent with previous years.”