Anita A. Fisher

Anita Fisher served for ten years as the Director of Education at NAMI San Diego (2007-2018), overseeing the Mental Health Family and Peer Recovery Education, Support, and Training Programs. Previously, Anita enjoyed a 30-year banking career with her last position as a V.P. and Business Systems Analyst at Union Bank of California. In 2005, after her eldest son was diagnosed with serious mental illness, Anita joined NAMI's mission of education, support, and advocacy with a special interest in criminal justice and substance use disorder. Anita retired from NAMI SD in 2018 and launched Fisher Mental Health Consulting. Anita enjoys semi-retirement and fulfills her passion for serving as a Certified NAMI family programs education & support leader/facilitator/state trainer, CRF (Community Research Foundation) Board, PERT(Psychiatric Emergency Response Team) Advisory Board/Training Presenter, NAMI CA (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Board, A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) Board, and Appointment by Governor Gavin Newsom to the CA CCJBH (Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health)2021-2025, CA BHTF (Behavioral Health Task Force) member. Anita utilizes her lived experience journey to help erase the stigma and educate about mental health challenges from the family perspective. She has done interviews with local and national news media, WebMD, PBS, and 60-minutes.