Our Board
The Mental Health Lou Fund
Amanda Villaveces
Amanda is excited to lead the charge in providing more accessible mental health programs and resources in Louisville. As a Licensed marriage and family therapist, she understands how systems can impact our mental wellbeing and wants to help make positive change in our community via the Mental Health Lou Fund. She's happy to have the support of this awesome board, and believes that together, we can do great things.
Liz Amick
Liz Bryan Amick is the owner of Alignment Bookkeeping and Finance. Her experience includes over 20 years in the fields of education, personal and small business finance, community relations, and mental health support. A Chicago native, she has a BA in English from the University of Iowa, and an MS in Family and Consumer Sciences from University of Kentucky. The current President of the Friends of the Louisville Free Public Library, Liz has worked with many non-profit agencies since making Louisville her home in 2008.
Melina Hettiaratchi
As a first generation professional and the eldest of three girls, Melina is an advocate first and foremost. Having grown up in Montgomery, Alabama (the first capital of the Confederacy and the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement), Melina knows firsthand the impact of history and power imbalances on us. As a result, Melina brings a hard-won perspective as an educator and community advocate to the practice of law. As a family lawyer, Melina often sees the positive benefits when clients have access to mental health services. Melina proudly serves on the board for the Mental Health Lou Fund to ensure her clients and the court systems continue to keep mental health in the conversations.
Shannon Gonter
As a practicing licensed mental health therapist in Kentucky - Shannon sees first hand the powers that 1-1 counseling has in peoples lives. She knows the counseling hour is important and helpful - but she also knows it is just one piece of the puzzle. Humans need to be connected with their communities and have access to spaces they feel safe bringing all parts of themselves to. That is one of the main reasons Shannon got connected with Mental Health Lou from the beginning - to normalize mental health in everyday conversations and bringing all parts of ourselves into safe spaces. The mission to decrease stigma and increase access to mental wellness care fits right into the personal and professional goals Shannon has for herself and her community. She is a proud member of the board and she is personally committed to the healing process and will never stop growing herself with hopes to bring this into others lives with the work she does professionally.
Samantha Perkins
Samantha is the author of Alive AF-One Anxious Mom’s Journey to Becoming Alcohol Free and co-author of best selling books The Epiphanies Project and Boy Moms. Through writing and speaking, Samantha is passionate about sharing her personal battle with anxiety in an effort to normalize the discussion of mental health struggles. In her work, Samantha encounters the importance of prioritizing mental health and sees how critical access to mental health is to our community. Samantha is a proud board member of Mental Health Lou and You because they are keeping mental health in the conversation and helping the entire community put mental health first.
