1. Vocational Leadership and Agents of Change:
Rosalynn Carter

2. What is Vocational Calling?
Not necessarily:
An occupation
Something one discovers by vision or epiphany
Something that benefits you monetarily
Is:
Persistent and present
Involving passion
Fulfilling, even if challenging
Something that utilizes one’s assets, skills, and passions to fill a void in some place of the world or society

3. Mental Illness in America: A Brief History
Categories under ‘mental illness’ branch very extensive
Mental illness seen as religious punishment/demonic possession; Looked down upon
Primitive/debilitating treatments
1840’s; Dorothea Dix
1950’s
Mid 1960’s

4. Stigma of Mental Illness: 1960’s-Today
Drastically improved since then, but the stigma remains.
What people think of when they think ‘mentally ill’
Mental illness in popular culture
Reforms to change stigma

5. Rosalynn Carter First Lady: 1977-1981, wife of President Jimmy Carter
Among the first to address this issue
Member of Governor’s Commission to Improve Services to the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped (when Pres. was Gov. of Georgia)
Active Honorary Chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health
Helped bring about passage of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980
Today: Leadership through The Carter Center (Atlanta)
Home for the mentally ill; Promote peace and health
Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy (1985)
Brings together mental health representatives across the country
Discuss key issues, such as stigma

6. Cont. Instituted Georgia Mental Health Forum (1996)
Inspired by seeing a need for local collaboration
Chairs the Carter Center Mental Health Task Force
Composed of individuals in position to impact public policy; Work year round and meet quarterly
Launched Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism (1996)
One of most successful programs in combating the stigma associated with mental illness
Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving
Addresses the needs and concerns of those caring for the mentally ill
Has continued to publish and co-author books to further the fight of mental illness and its continued stigma