Susan Resko received her Masters from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.  Susan served as The Balanced Mind Foundation’s development director for five years before accepting the position of The Balanced Mind Foundation’s executive director. Prior to joining The Balanced Mind Foundation, Susan was a vice president at a major financial institution. She also volunteers on other non-profit boards and fundraising organizations. Susan and her husband have three children.

Shira Raider formerly provided support to the management and staff of ACORN Housing, a nationwide non-profit counseling agency for low and moderate income families. As a part of the The Balanced Mind Foundation staff, she fulfills her particular interest in grassroots empowerment through connecting parents and caregivers of children to the resources that allow them to take control of their family’s health and well-being. 

 Jessica graduated cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Communications and a second major in Political Science.  While at Northwestern, she developed a passion for helping depressed and bipolar students get through challenging times and achieve academically. She and a best friend co-founded a depression support network. For several years, she gave talks to campus fellowship groups about de-stigmatizing depression while working with individual students to get them psychiatric help. Before joining the The Balanced Mind Foundation family, Jessica coached high school forensics and worked for an education consultant firm helping high schoolers get into college.

With an education in psychology and child development, joining The Balanced Mind Foundation in 2007 convinced Denisse that it was the right path for her to follow.  She now works directly with parents to find the best resources and answers any questions that parents may have regarding the website. “Working with families with children with bipolar disorder has added tremendous value to me as a person and I can say with conviction that working for a non-profit organization such as The Balanced Mind Foundation has been an immensely enriching experience.” 

The Balanced Mind Foundation Volunteers

Lolli Ross, MS, CAS
Family Helpline Team Leader

Lolli has been passionately involved in the disability rights movement for the past 30 years to help create communities where everyone’s unique gifts are valued. She has been actively involved in the development of a variety of parent support and advocacy programs in CT and applied her experience in cyberspace initiating the Family Response Team when The Balanced Mind Foundation went live in 2000. Witnessing the power of parent to parent support has kept Lolli strongly tied to the Family Response Team as each parent who connects is reassured they are not alone and there is hope in the challenges they may face.

"The Balanced Mind Foundation has been a lifeline of information, resources and support for my family and countless others. I am proud to be a part of this vital foundation."

Julia Small
 Assistant Family Helpline Team Leader

Lolli has been passionately involved in the disability rights movement for the past 30 years to help create communities where everyone’s unique gifts are valued. She has been actively involved in the development of a variety of parent support and advocacy programs in CT and applied her experience in cyberspace initiating the Family Response Team when The Balanced Mind Foundation went live in 2000. Witnessing the power of parent to pare

Brenda is a registered nurse with a background in critical care and home health care. After having 4 children she spent several years volunteering at a local free medical clinic.   Her oldest child has BP and Tourette’s Syndrome, and the second oldest has BP and Asperger’s Syndrome.  Early in the course of seeking answers she found The Balanced Mind Foundation and joined a support group which she describes as having been “my lifeline for the past several years.”  Brenda began volunteering a few years ago, first as a support group moderator, and later adding moderation of the forums to her job duties.  Brenda told The Balanced Mind Foundation “I love being able to help other parents and family members who are struggling through diagnosis and treatment difficulties.  I feel like it’s the least I can do to repay all the wonderful support, encouragement and knowledge I have received from others over the years”.

Julie Joyce
Chat Team Leader

Julie is a The Balanced Mind Foundation volunteer and a Chicago Police officer who is part of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), trained to help mentally ill people in crisis situations. Julie has helped with the development of the first juvenile CIT training in the nation which is currently being taught to Chicago Police Officers. Julie is an active volunteer with The Balanced Mind Foundation and NAMI conducting informational presentations on mental illness and stigma busting. Julie is a single mother of a 17 year old son diagnosed with BP and ADHD who currently attends a therapeutic school.

"Since joining The Balanced Mind Foundation many years ago, I finally found a place that restored my sanity. When you have a child with mental illness it can be overwhelming and life changing. I feel that The Balanced Mind Foundation has literally given me back my life and I wanted to pay that forward. As a The Balanced Mind Foundation volunteer I wanted to help guide parents through this difficult path and let them know they are not alone. Being a moderator on Parent Chat has afforded me the opportunity to reach out to others and lend them a empathetic hand. I never want another parent to have to go through the struggles that we went through and if I can help save one family then it is worth it".

Carrie Miannan
Online Volunteer Coordinator

I came to The Balanced Mind Foundation 9 years ago when my daughters were 12 years old and newly diagnosed. I would post on the forums and spend time in the chat rooms where I found the support I needed to face each day. A year later I joined a support group that was so helpful but as the chat rooms became less active I missed them very much. I used to start and end my days in there because I could cry and laugh with people who understood what it was like to travel on this very difficult road.

Ellen Jannol
Support Groups Member Coordinator

Kathy Karle
Support Group Member Coordinator