OUR STAFF
Donita Diamata
Director
ddiamata@mhaoforegon.org
With more than twenty years of involvement in the Consumer/Survivor Movement, Donita Diamata is guided by values that have been influenced over the years through personal experiences as a mental health recipient and through her experiences working in the mental health system. From these experiences that have spanned from negative to positive, traumatic to uplifting, Donita has adopted an intuitive approach to how she offers support and how she develops programs.
Donita's work experience includes providing direct peer-support, start-up and management of peer-run programs, individual advocacy, and advocacy for change in the mental health system. After working officially in both peer-run organizations and in traditional mental health clinics and residential facilities, she continues to advocate for change that gives recipients options that work best for them. She strongly advocates for evolution in the system that eliminates traumatic experiences sometimes found in mental health services. Rather, her vision is one of services and supports that are holistic and enriching.
Jessica Carroll (Osage) MA-PMHCA, PWS
Lead Project Coordinator
jcarroll@mhaoforegon.org
Jessica Carroll (Osage) MA-PMHCA, PWS has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Portland State University and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Graduate Center of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College in Portland Oregon. Jessica came to the Peer Recovery Movement through her work at Lewis & Clark College. It is her hope to inform her work through the lens of lived experience and a strengths based self-directed approach. As an Enrolled Tribal Member of the Osage Nation, Jessica places an especially high value on Indigenous Knowledge and the unique perspective of Sovereign Nations.
Teána Edwards BA, PWS
Project Coordinator
Teána Edwards has a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Health Care Studies with a highlight in Social and Criminal Justice, as well as an Associates of Arts Degree in Human Services. Teána brings her educational experience and lived experience to the Peer Movement. A lot of her experience is working with vulnerable populations with a specific connection to Black youth. Teána’s goal is to use her creativity and knowledge as a consumer, parent, youth and mental health advocate, and peer support specialist to influence change.
Emily Privatsky
Project Coordinator
Emily Privatsky was drawn to peer support through encountering the Peer Movement 10 years ago, and she deeply believes that everyone can recover. As an empathetic person, Emily has always had a passion for helping others which she initially thought was through the path of Nursing. After working in the medical field for many years, Emily found that supporting others in their self-defined recovery journey was not in the medical field but through peer support. Emily uses her lived experience to help guide her in her role as Project Coordinator for Peerlink National Technical Assistance Center providing training, organizational development, and technical assistance for SAMHSA regions 9 & 10.