Fellows

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Healthy Minds Fellows

Nisheena Clemons (Nickajack Elementary PTA, Smyrna, Ga.)

Clemons brings personal and professional lived experience to the fellowship. As a parent advocating for her child, she has experienced firsthand how stigma, limited access and lack of awareness can delay families seeking mental health support. Professionally, she developed a program helping unhoused families through which she developed her skills in trauma-informed care. Clemons has disseminated many Healthy Minds program resources within her school community, and through the fellowship will bring students and families together to engage in hands-on activities focused on positive mental health practices.

Kimberly McDonough (Mulrennan Middle School PTSA, Valrico, Fla.)

McDonough is a current PTA leader and has a psychology degree and several certificates in mental health. She is also a certified mental health first aid responder. As a School of Excellence designee, part of her PTA’s work involved educating students on positive mental health practices. Her goal for the fellowship is to spread knowledge and awareness focused on teens and social media use.

Laura Pugh (West Hills PTA, Bremerton, Wash.)

Pugh is an elementary school educator and a member of a small PTA in her community. Last year, her PTA implemented the Healthy Minds program with great success and she implemented wrap-around services for students in her school. She is passionate about being a bridge for educators and families. Through the fellowship, she will focus on providing parents and caregivers with the tools to engage their children around mental health, mainly youth anxiety, and will also focus on improving her advocacy skills as a parent and an educator.

Katy Leach (Tuscawilla Middle School PTSA, Winter Springs, Fla.)

As vice president of her PTSA, Leach started a Health and Wellness Club that serves as a mindfulness space for students. She is also a mom of three students and a substitute teacher and sees firsthand how mental health needs change across ages and how they show up both at home and in the classroom. This dual perspective drives her passion for creating supportive school communities where all students can thrive. Through the fellowship, she wants to bring back to her school community practical solutions that make mental health resources more accessible and less intimidating, so every family feels empowered to support their child’s well-being.

Tyler Porter (Lynn Wood Elementary PTA, Broken Arrow, Okla.)

As president of her PTA, a mom of three children and a former teacher, Porter has seen how mental health directly affects student learning, family engagement and the overall well-being of families. Advocating for her son who has autism has shaped her passion to connect families to resources. This past year, her PTA hosted a school health fair, featuring local community organizations that disseminated their resources. Her goal for the fellowship is to gain strategies and tools to bridge gaps and create lasting meaningful connections between mental health resources and families. She also hopes to gain more understanding of ways to enhance grassroots advocacy.