The National Alliance on Mental Illness
During a 35-year career in mental health services, Mona McCalley-Whitters has applied passion and expertise to improve the lives of individuals with mental illness, normalize conversations about mental illness, and heighten community awareness of mental health issues. As executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Linn County since 2019—a time of unprecedented mental health strain—she has helped to greatly expand the activities, visibility, and financial stability of NAMI Linn County.
With a background in psychology, nursing, and research, McCalley-Whitters has dedicated her career to helping persons with mental illness. As a licensed psychologist and health service provider, she has helped persons in mental health crises by providing psychological assessments and psychotherapeutic services. McCalley-Whitters has served as a psychological consultant throughout Iowa at outpatient clinics, medical centers, a prison classification center, and at a high-tech company creating mobile learning apps. In neuroscience, she challenged prevailing scientific attitudes as a co-author of more than 40 scientific publications on structural brain changes. Other recognitions include being named a notable psychologist by Marquis Who’s Who and receiving the Sigma Theta Tau Professional Performance award as a psychiatric nurse.