Awards

2025 David LaLumia Outstanding Professional Service Award Recipient:

Maribeth Leonard, Chief Executive Officer, LifeWays

David LaLumia was the first executive director of the Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards (MACMHB). Dave began his career in Michigan as a legislative staff person to Senator Joe Snyder in 1975. He assisted in the merger of the Board and Directors associations into MACMHB in 1983 and was appointed MACMHB’s first full-time director in 1984. He served in that capacity until 2008. The “David LaLumia Outstanding Professional Service” award is to honor employed individuals from within the public mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorder system who have made, over time, an outstanding contribution to Michigan’s publicly funded system. This award will be presented annually at the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan’s fall conference.

Maribeth Leonard began her career at LifeWays as a Case Manager in December 1992 and through the years gained experience in positions overseeing Quality Management, Contracts & Provider Network, Strategic Planning and Corporate Compliance. The LifeWays Board of Directors appointed Ms. Leonard as CEO in 2012. As CEO, Ms. Leonard has navigated LifeWays through both challenging and transformational times. She initiated discussions with Jackson and Hillsdale County Commissions, and (then) Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to negotiate a 10-year deficit reduction plan to remove a structural deficit related to Local Match (County Contribution). She participated on the (then) Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards workgroup in response to the MDCH Healthcare Reform Planning Prepaid Inpatient Health Plan (PIHP) Realignments resulting in the establishment of Mid-State Health Network (MSHN) region. She contracted with TBD Solutions (formerly The Standards Group) to write the Application for Participation for the Mid-State Region of the Community Mental Health Organizations. Ms. Leonard completed the process of primary health care integration, beginning with a satellite office of the federally qualified health center (FQHC) and ultimately resulting in an imbedded system of integrated health at LifeWays. She is honored to be receiving this prestigious award.

2024 Go To Bat Award Recipient:

Senator Sarah Anthony, Michigan State Senate, 21st District

The “Go To Bat” Award is presented by the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan to an individual outside of the public mental health system (DHHS or CMH) who exemplifies extraordinary concern, advocacy or leadership aimed at improving the quality and quantity of community-based mental health services for persons with mental illness and developmental disabilities in Michigan.

Throughout her 20+ year career in public service, Senator Anthony has made history as a trailblazer and advocate. Her remarkable achievements include becoming the youngest Black woman to serve on a County Commission in the United States and holding leadership positions, such as Chair and Vice Chair, during her tenure on the Ingham County Commission. She has also made history as mid-Michigan’s first African American woman elected to both the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate. In 2023, she achieved another historic milestone as the first Black woman to chair the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Anthony’s legislative career is marked by a powerful commitment to equity, opportunity, and access for all Michiganders, especially the most vulnerable. She has been a fearless leader in advancing healthcare access, including behavioral health, and championing social justice, senior services, and the needs of working families. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she has relentlessly worked to secure funding for public behavioral health services across Michigan.

2024 Jim Neubacher Media Award Recipients:

Amy Andrews – Fox 2 News, Detroit | Amyre Makupson – CBS News, Detroit

Jim Neubacher, award-winning reporter, became an outspoken advocate for the rights of people with disabilities after he developed multiple sclerosis. He helped advance the understanding of people with disabilities by writing a column for the Detroit Free Press called, “Disabled in Detroit,” which focused on disabilities and how they affect individuals, families and society. Jim was a tireless advocate of many causes and related legislation that benefited thousands of Michigan people and their families who cope daily with mental or physical disabilities. Jim died on March 22, 1990, but the results of his efforts and his commitment live on. The “Jim Neubacher” Media Award is presented annually to the individual or organization from the media who has portrayed mental health services accurately and positively to reduce stigma of mental illness or developmental disabilities in the community.

Amy Andrews is one of the morning news anchors at Fox 2 News in Detroit. She has been instrumental in improving awareness and perception about community-based public mental health services in Michigan. She is a passionate advocate when it comes to stomping out stigma and spreading the message about the importance of getting help for mental illness and addiction. Amy has been very open and honest with her television audience about her own struggles with anxiety and depression. This past holiday season, she dedicated an entire morning show to sharing resources with viewers who were struggling during the holidays. She invited three Community Mental Health agencies (Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb) into the Fox 2 studios to talk about how people should manage their mental health during the holidays and where people should go for help if they were in crisis. Amy also volunteers her time at the local National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) walks each year as the event emcee and regional advocate. The expertise of Amy’s anchoring skills combined with her own lived experience and compassion and knowledge of why behavioral health services are so important to those in the community makes her an excellent recipient for the Jim Neubacher Media Award.

Amyre Makupson, Detroit native and the Executive Producer for Impacting Communities at CBS Detroit News anchor has used her expertise to shine a light into some of Detroit’s most important issues, including but not limited to food insecurity, mental health, substance use, and other crisis impacting metro Detroit communities and families. Makupson has showcased her willingness to serve and give back to her community through countless volunteer and nonprofit collaborations, one being Macomb County Community Mental Health’s Mental Health Matters Awards. She has produced countless stories, features, and participated on panels emphasizing the importance and how to openly speak about mental health to reduce the stigma. Makupson shares her own mental health stories as support for those battling insecurities and challenges – urging others to utilize the proper tools and seek help when needed, reducing the current stigma surrounding mental health. Because of her countless support to the Metal Health community, she was awarded the “Reducing the Stigma” award during the 2023 Mental Health Matters awards ceremony. Makupson is a dynamic force for the metro Detroit community and the change that is needed in today’s media landscape. She is a beacon of hope.

2023 Hal Madden Outstanding Service Award Recipient:

Joseph Stone, Board Member, Network180

Hal Madden, the initial recipient of this award, is a founding member of the Michigan Association of CMH Boards and a champion of services to adults and children with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance or developmental disabilities. He was a charter board member of the Mason County CMH in 1964 and has made numerous statewide contributions to improving quality of life to persons served by CMH. The “Hal Madden Outstanding Services” Award is to honor individuals from within the public mental health systems (CMH & DHHS) who have made, over time, an outstanding contribution to the public mental health system.

Joe has worked tirelessly for more than 25 years within the CMH system. He has taken on various roles of leadership on the local, regional and State levels and has been a champion for the public behavioral health system in Michigan. Joe was officially appointed to the AuSable Valley Community Mental Health Authority Board in March of 1999. He became Chair of the Building Committee in May of the same year, bringing his expertise from his full-time job as the Building Official in Montmorency County. When Joe came to AuSable Valley CMHA in 1999, the Agency’s budget at that time was $9,695,377. When Joe retired in August of 2022, 23 years later, and left the AV Board, the budget had increased to $27,013,833! In April of 2006, Joe was elected as Vice-Chair of the AV Board and in April of 2012, he became Board Chair. Over the years, Joe has served on the Executive and Finance Committee, Recipient Rights Advisory and Appeals Committees, Building (now known as Facilities) Committee, Personnel (now known as Human Resources) Committee, and Program Committee at AuSable Valley. Currently, Joe serves as Past President of the CMHAM Board of Directors. He served as President from 2017-2022, and Vice President from 2015-2017. Joe was also appointed to the Lt. Governor’s workgroup on boilerplate language for Section 298. Joe was an Oscoda County Commissioner for 14 years and the Chairman for 12 years. Joe graduated from the Flint Police Academy and became a Sheriff’s Deputy. He retired as the Building Official for Montmorency County in late 2022. When Joe was President of the Community Mental Health Association, he was quoted as saying: “It’s so enlightening to see the dedicated, professional, hard-working people we have in our system. I hope to be able to lead us into our next challenges, which seem to change day by day. I believe we need to be quick to adapt to the changes before us; things are moving so fast in the Mental Health field that the ones dragging their feet are going to be left behind. We cannot fail; our Consumers depend on us to be the champions for them. I hope I can use my experience to help lead our association into the next phase of this transition.” Personally, from my time with Joe as my Board Chair at AuSable Valley, that was a continual theme for him…what more can we do for our consumers? Not soon after Joe left northern Michigan to relocate to the west side of the state, he was appointed as a Board Member for Network 180 where we know he will continue to make a difference, just like he has up until now.

2020 Nick Filonow Award of Excellence:

Thomas Cole, System Administrator, Macomb County CMH Services

A smiling man holding an award in front of a black wall.

The Nick Filonow Award of Excellence recognizes eligible individuals, committees or groups that have made a significant contribution or effort to improve the public mental health community-based system at a local or state-wide level through finance, technology or quality efforts.

Since playing a critical role in our ability to successfully recover from a serious cyber-attack in May 2019, Thomas has led Macomb County Community Mental Health efforts to not only restore our network but to implement sustainable processes for heightened security across the board. Thomas kept his technology “wish list” current by constantly researching best practices and vendors which greatly reduced the implementation time. Then came the pandemic and the transition to remote work. The previous improvements made by MCCMH and led by Thomas made our transition to remote work highly successful. Throughout, Thomas has continued to have the support of management and finance, and has moved us forward in an impressive manner; ultimately leading to his nomination for the Nick Filonow Award!