Meet Our Team
Healing Minds NOLA Membership
Our organization is composed of spirited and multifaceted experts from a wide range of mental health-related fields. We have recruited local members from legislative, non-profit, economic, legal, and administrative backgrounds who all believe in one common purpose: to address the growing need for mental health treatment for the incarcerated, homeless, intellectually disabled, and severely mentally ill. Feel free to contact us here if you have interest in joining our ever-expanding list of stakeholders
Our Board Members
Read below to meet the passionate members who serve as the Healing Minds NOLA board.
President
Denise S. Dugas, BSB, is a retired senior healthcare executive with more than twenty-six years of leadership in behavioral health operations, strategic planning, and regulatory compliance. Known for building strong teams and advancing high‑quality psychiatric care, she has led major service lines across hospitals and health systems while contributing to statewide policy and legislative initiatives.
Now retired from full‑time leadership, Denise continues her work as a dedicated mental health advocate, advisor, and community voice for improved access and system reform.
Vice-President
Debi Davis is a family member and serves on the NAMI New Orleans/Jefferson Parish Board. She is an active mental health advocate and speaker in demand, sharing strengths and challenges of navigating systems from the unique and less often heard family perspective.
Secretary Treasurer
Tiffany Barrette is a mental health advocate dedicated to improving systems of care for individuals living with severe mental illness. Motivated by firsthand experience navigating the mental health and criminal justice systems, she works to raise awareness about the barriers families face when seeking treatment for loved ones and advocates for policies that expand access to effective care. She has helped organize community discussions and forums that bring together experts, families, and advocates to address the intersection of untreated mental illness, homelessness, and the criminal justice system. Tiffany is also an active member of the Pontchartrain Lions Club, where she participate in service initiatives that support and strengthen the local community
Officer
Anne Morel is our acting treasurer and secretary. As a mother to a a child with mental health struggles, Anne is dedicated to ensuring that other parents to severely mentally ill children find ease in locating and providing treatment.
