Senators Kaine, Franken Added to Lineup for MHA Annual Conference

Alexandria, VA—Mental Health America (MHA) can announce today that Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Al Franken of Minnesota are confirmed to speak at MHA’s 2017 Annual Conference next month in Washington, DC. Senator Franken will speak during the opening luncheon on Wednesday, June 14 and Senator Kaine will speak the morning of Friday, June 16.

MHA’s 2017 Annual Conference is themed Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll and is being held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, June 14-16, 2017. MHA will discuss issues that many don’t talk about, but that impact many in the mental health and addiction communities every day: gender identity and depression, sexual trauma and its aftermath, and side effects of mental illness medication. We will talk about the opioid epidemic, prison reform, how people are overcoming alcohol and drug dependence and successfully finding pathways to resilience and recover, and how music, musicians, and artists are playing a major role in helping fans along their own paths to recovery.

The attendance of Senators Kaine and Franken adds to an already amazing event and lineup of speakers and awardees—Senator Bill Cassidy, Senator Chris Murphy, Rep. Tim Murphy and Rep. Eddie Bernice-Johnson will be receiving MHA’s 2017 Legislator Award. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy and his wife Amy, Education Director at The Kennedy Forum, will also speak during the opening luncheon on June 14.  Later that afternoon, MHA will welcome Grammy Award-winning singer Michelle Williams as an afternoon keynote speaker, and the evening will conclude with our Clifford W. Beers Awards Dinner. All three days of the conference are packed with great content—amazing breakout speakers, our Media Awards Luncheon on the 15^th - emceed by NBC4-Washington’s Doreen Gentzler - and a Thursday evening event with 2-time NYT best-selling author Glennon Doyle Melton.

“We look forward to gathering in Washington, DC in just a few weeks to discuss these incredibly important issues with these great speakers,” said Paul Gionfriddo, MHA president and CEO. “With an unprecedented gathering of advocates, musicians, clinicians, and policy makers in the heart of the nation’s capital, this conference is one not to be missed.