Oryx Cohen, M.P.A.
Chief Executive Officer

The most important part of what informs Oryx’s work is his lived experience with altered states of consciousness: being diagnosed, hospitalized, and ultimately finding a path to healing. Part of his story is documented in the award-winning documentary film Healing Voices, which he co-produced with Producer/Director P.J. Moynihan, and is now available on Amazon Prime.

Work experience he brings to NEC includes being the first Co-Director (along with Sera Davidow) of the Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community (now the Wildflower Alliance). While there he helped develop a system funded peer-run alternative to the mainstream system that has experienced amazing success (wildfloweralliance.org). He also co-founded the Freedom Center in 2001, the Pioneer Valley’s only independent peer-run support/activist organization. Freedom Center’s purpose was to empower and support people with psychiatric labels while challenging oppressive mental health policies and practices (www.freedom-center.org). He has served on several boards and committees internationally, nationally and regionally, including We R H.O.P.E. and the Kiva Centers. He volunteered for several years with MindFreedom International, directing its Oral History Project. This project involved collecting and documenting c/s/x stories of abuse, empowerment, and healing in the mental health system.

In a short time as the CEO of the National Empowerment Center, Oryx is excited to have brought on an amazing and diverse team, and is proud of the incredible work the organization does. Emotional CPR (eCPR) and NEC’s other initiatives are changing lives every day. An eCPR trainer himself, Oryx sees eCPR as a way of being, and has experienced first-hand how the practice has enriched his daily life with family, friends, and the community.

In any spare time, you will find Oryx on the basketball court, where he coaches mostly young women and girls year-round. Together, Oryx’s teams learn about the value of hard work, teamwork, and accountability, all in an atmosphere of family and fun.

Oryx lives with his wife and two teenagers in Massachusetts.

Kimberly D. Ewing

Director of Training and Engagement

Kimberly D. Ewing serves as the National Empowerment Center’s Director of Training and Engagement and Coordinator for Allies of Indiana. Drawing from her lived experiences and understanding of interconnected identities, Kim is deeply passionate about fostering mental wellness, promoting community, generational and intergenerational healing, and empowering individuals of all ages through connection and education. Kim is an international trainer specializing in Emotional CPR (eCPR), Collective Wellbeing, Community Engagement and the Human Experience. She is also a Certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Trainer and a Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) Facilitator. Her personal belief, reflected in her favorite hashtag #ImStillHealing, is that we are all on a journey of healing. Kim champions truth-telling with compassion, viewing eCPR as fundamental to our shared humanity. A significant reflection is her wish to have known eCPR earlier in life, recognizing its potential to positively impact her past interactions. Kim holds a BS in Communications from the University of Indianapolis and a MS in Higher Education from Indiana State University.

Shira Collings, M.S., L.P.C.

Grant Coordinator

As a person with lived experience of mental health challenges, trauma, and recovery, Shira is passionate about advocating for peers to have a voice in mental health policy and services. They began their work with NEC as a consultant in 2017 and later became NEC’s Youth Coordinator, and they have recently transitioned into the role of Grant Coordinator. They have played a key role in the development and implementation of Youth Emotional CPR as well as NEC’s Compassionate Approaches to Crisis and Youth Leadership webinar series. In addition to their work for NEC, Shira is a psychotherapist primarily specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image, in particular among LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent individuals. Shira lives in Philadelphia with their husband, two adopted cats, and foster kitties.

Daniel B. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
Consultant

Recovery From Mental Illness and Becoming a Commissioner – Dan is a person who has recovered from schizophrenia. He was hospitalized several times prior to becoming a psychiatrist. He is one of the few psychiatrists in the country who publicly discusses his recovery from mental illness. He is a role model for others who are struggling to recover, and his life dispels the myth that people do not recover from mental illness. His recovery and work in the field were recognized by his selection as a member of the White House Commission on Mental Health.

Education and Practice – Dan received his AB from Princeton University, his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and his M.D. from George Washington University. He is a board-certified psychiatrist who completed his residency at Harvard Medical School. He is presently Executive Director of the National Empowerment Center.

Speaker/Teacher/Researcher – Dan travels to all parts of the country to conduct workshops, give keynote addresses, teach classes, and organize conferences for consumers/survivors, families, and mental health providers to promote recovery of people labeled with mental illness by incorporating the principles of empowerment. He has been featured on many radio and television programs, including CNN Special Report. In addition he is a researcher having carried out research into neurotransmitters at the National Institute of Mental Health and on the ways that people recover. Along with Laurie Ahern, he developed the Empowerment Model of Recovery and the PACE/Recovery program to shift the system to a recovery orientation. He was recognized for this work by being selected for both the Clifford Beers National Mental Health Association Award and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law’s Advocacy Award.

Author – Dan has written chapters in many books, as well as a number of articles in professional journals such as Hospital and Community Psychiatry and the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal. He has produced a video and booklet about important aspects of recovery, “Recovery is for Everyone” as well as a video on “Consumers Working as Providers.”

Joana Arcangel

Consultant

Joana is a parent, writer, peer supporter, trainer, consultant, and disability rights advocate. She moved from the Philippines to the United States at the age of eight and speaks Tagalog fluently. She values finding ways to explore, honor, and celebrate neurodiversity, creativity, meaningful connections, and resiliency. Joana’s career journey includes having led peer support specialists, managing a peer-run mental health respite home in California where she worked from 2015 to 2020. She is currently employed by a mental health nonprofit organization working within a transition age youth (TAY) program. She is a Master Trainer of the Honest, Open, Proud program and Master Facilitator of Core Gift Discovery.

“My Core Gift is helping others find the courage to navigate their world. I give it by helping them to feel valued for who they are, express themselves from a space of authenticity, connect what is within and outside of themselves, and give from the heart to build strong foundations in their communities.”

Juan Vélez Court

Consultant

Juan Vélez Court is a proud husband and mental health advocate who is open about his lived experiences and challenges from his past, with the purpose of motivating others towards a positive future. Residing in Puerto Rico, Vélez is a consultant for the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration of Puerto Rico, as well as the National Empowerment Center. His work focuses on the integration of Peer Support services, promoting inclusive work environments and promoting wellness in the workplace. Vélez also incorporates his digital production background to support the development of podcasts and social media content focused on motivating others to explore new adventures, expanding their perspectives, and increasing their quality of life and social connectivity.

With a passion devoted to educating and empowering others, he is a certified Peer Support Specialist trainer, eCPR trainer, and has been certified with other practices such as WRAP and ASIST.