NAMI Ask the Expert: More Than a Number: The Impact of 988 on Reimagining Mental Health Crisis Care

David W. Covington, LPC, MBA, CEO & President of RI International
David W. Covington, LPC, MBA, is CEO and President of RI International (d/b/a for Recovery Innovations, Inc.). He is a behavioral health innovator, entrepreneur, and storyteller. He is also a partner in Behavioral Health Link, founder of the Five Lanes Crisis Partners family of companies and Crisis Now Academy consulting and training business, producer of the Moving America’s Soul on Suicide film series and founder of the international initiatives Crisis Talk and Hope Inc. Stories. David also hosts and curates the popular weekly 988 “Crisis Jam” Learning Community in partnership with SAMHSA and NASMHPD.

Hannah Wesolowski, Chief Advocacy Officer at NAMI
Since 2021, Hannah Wesolowski has served as Chief Advocacy Officer at NAMI. She leads NAMI’s Government Relations, Policy & Advocacy team, which develops NAMI’s policy positions, advances NAMI’s federal priorities and supports the policy work of NAMI’s Alliance at the state and local level. Hannah and her team work with NAMI’s advocates nationwide and with partners and policymakers to enact policies that will improve the lives of all people affected by mental health conditions. She believes in the power of advocates sharing their stories to advance research, increase mental health funding, improve access to care, support youth and young adults, expand social supports and decriminalize mental illness.