Appointment of New Secretary General/CEO (Last Updated On: )FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elena L. Berger Director of Communications Tel: 410 938 3180 Fax: 410 938 3183 Email: [email protected] Preston Garrison to Lead WFMH Preston J. Garrison has been appointed as Secretary General/Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). In a long career leading voluntary organizations in the mental health field in the United States, Mr. Garrison has been chief executive of the National Mental Health Association (1984-1991) and, previously, of the mental health associations of Florida, Metropolitan Atlanta and Tennessee. His concerns at those posts included advocacy and membership development, fund-raising, and special attention to childrens issues and to rural mental health. He has also served as a consultant to a range of local, regional and national non-profit social service organizations, providing advice on management, fund-raising, strategic positioning, and organization renewal. He is a resident of Woodbridge, Virginia. Mr. Garrison has relinquished his role as founding executive director of the National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families, Inc. in Washington, D.C., a post he held since November 1998. He guided the establishment of this new membership association, building its program and foundation support. It is now involved with a nationwide network of programs serving disadvantaged communities, designed to increase the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children. His appointment as Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation for Mental Health was made by the Board of Directors at its 2002 meeting, held in September at the Royal College of Psychiatry in London. The Board has 23 members from 18 countries. The decision was announced by the Federations president, Pirkko Lahti, executive director of the Finnish Association for Mental Health. About the World Federation for Mental Health WFMH, founded in London in 1948, maintains its Secretariat in Alexandria, Virginia. It has member organizations, individual members and other contacts in more than 90 countries, and is in consultative status to the United Nations and its specialized agencies. The membership includes all professions engaged in mental health, consumers of mental health services, government officials, care-givers and volunteers. The Federations goals include public education on mental health issues; the promotion of mental health; the prevention of mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders; and improvements in the care of those who have experienced such disorders. One of its major programs is World Mental Health Day, which has expanded into many countries as a public education activity. It is observed each year on 10 October or as close to that date as possible, depending on local circumstances.