NAMI Main Line PA, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is a grassroots organization offering information and support to people with mental illness, their families and friends. Our events, education programs, and support are available free-of-charge to people in the Philadelphia area. For additional information see What We Offer and FAQ.

Members of the Board

Penny Toren, MS, President
Penny Toren’s connection with NAMI began with being a student and then graduate of the Family-to-Family program as a family members to a loved one with mental illness.  After her participation in the class, Penny went on to get certified to be a Family-to-Family facilitator and has been facilitating classes since 2019. While Penny is trained as a scientist and works both in the biotech and fitness industries full time, her commitment and passion to advance NAMI and the advocacy efforts is ingrained in her DNA.  Penny attributes NAMI to giving her the knowledge and tools to have a deeper understanding and commitment to those affected by serious mental illnesses.

Ingrid Waldron, Ph.D., Acting Vice President
Ingrid Waldron has been volunteering for NAMI Main Line PA for over twenty years. She serves as President and as chair of two board committees. She frequently contributes to our education and outreach activities. She has experience with serious mental illness in her family.

Amanda Falivene-Rocco, M.A.,LPC, CPRP Treasurer
Amanda Falivene-Rocco serves as the Treasurer on the board, as well as a Family-to-Family facilitator. She began volunteering with NAMI after utilizing their resources to help several family members with chronic mental illness and to gain support for her own anxiety and depression. Amanda is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner. She was the director of a day program in Philadelphia for individuals with chronic mental illness and intellectual disabilities for 7 years and now works in private practice and provides clinical supervision to individuals seeking licensure.  

Scott Johnston, M.Ed. Secretary
Scott Johnston’s connection with NAMI is rooted both as a family member (Family-to-Family graduate) and as a mental health professional.  Currently a therapist at an outpatient clinic, Scott’s clinical background has responded to challenges spanning persistent mental illness, developmental disabilities, sexual violence, and co-occurring disorders.  Trained in dialectical behavior therapy and prolonged exposure therapy, Scott’s roles as a clinician, program developer, and teacher/trainer reflect various levels of care: outpatient, inpatient, group homes, therapeutic communities, residential treatment, as well as family-focused education.  Scott has taught college psychology courses and co-directed a critically acclaimed documentary film about mental health recovery. 

Craig DeLarge, MBA, MPH
Craig A. DeLarge is a digital healthcare strategist and mental health advocate & educator at The Digital Mental Health Project, where he produces education and research helping to improve the “responsible” adoption of digital technology in behavioral health services & therapies.

In his career, as a digital & healthcare marketer, strategist, and educator, he has worked in world-class firms like Novo Nordisk, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Takeda, and Johnson & Johnson. He has also taught marketing, communications, leadership, and business ethics at several colleges, including Temple University, Philadelphia University, Chestnut Hill College, St. Joseph’s University, and Penn State University. His career is focused on “improving health” & “developing leaders”.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Marketing and Design Management from Philadelphia University (USA) (BSc), from the University of Westminster (UK) (MBA) and King’s College, London (MPH). He is also a certified professional coach and published author of The WiseWorking Handbook (2014).

He resides in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Judith (Judy) Green, MSS
Judy Green has been facilitating Family-to-Family classes since 2003, about the same amount of time she has been fund-raising and volunteering on various affiliate committees.  In addition to being a nationally certified trainer for the Family-to-Family program, she has facilitated the Visions for Tomorrow and Basics programs for families having young children with mental illness, as well as run support groups.  Although a Licensed Social Worker, it is the serious mental illness in her family that has given her the understanding, commitment and passion so necessary to do this work.

Mary Lisa Kostaneski, M.Ed., MSS, LSW
Lisa facilitates a Family Support Group for NAMI Main Line PA and is a board member.  Her son’s long struggle with mental health informs and inspires her work.  Lisa plans to work with children and families in her second career in social work. 

Sonia Levy, MA, CCC-SLP
Sonia is a new board member. She is serving on the development committee. Sonia works as a speech language pathologist in a Philadelphia charter middle school. She has experience with serious mental illness with her son. 

Edie Mannion, LMFT
Edie Mannion is a licensed marriage and family therapist whose work is inspired by her lived family experience with mental health and substance use disorders. In her private practice she offers individual, couples and family therapy for mental health, substance use and trauma related challenges and personality disorders, with certification in schema therapy, intensive training in dialectical behavior therapy, LEAP, and a deep respect for the recovery and trauma-informed models. She was the co-founder and director of the Training and Education Center at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA (now Mental Health Partnerships) from 1985-2021, where she developed services including family consultation, educational family support groups, family education courses, training for service providers and systems improvement advocacy.  She has authored/co-authored journal articles and book chapters related to this work.  She has been a long-time member and frequent workshop/webinar presenter for NAMI Main Line, and joined the board in November 2021.  She is the co-chair of our advocacy committee.

Jewane Newman Battiste
Jewane recently joined the NAMI Main Line PA Board, previously serving on the board of NAMI Pomona Valley, California where she was deeply involved in education and community outreach initiatives.  She began her NAMI experience as a participant in Family-to-Family and immediately obtained her certification to become a facilitator.  For more than 40 years, Jewane has been a devoted family advocate for a loved one living with a mental health condition, which has inspired her ongoing commitment to supporting other families navigating similar challenges.  

Lisa D. Parker, MSS
Lisa joined the board in 2022, and is currently Co-Chair of the Outreach Committee. She represents NAMI Main Line at colleges and universities where she speaks about her lived experience. She is a social worker by training who has worked in various social services, anti-bullying, educational, cross-cultural, mental health and public health programs in a number of Philly neighborhoods. She has experience in program development, implementation and evaluation as well as non profit development. She has also worked on a project for several years related to the arts and disabilities.  In 2011, Lisa founded Peace Day Philly, a non-profit organization that promotes and collaborates on programming related to personal, local and/or global peace on and around the UN International Day of Peace, September 21. Lisa represents Peace Day Philly at the United Nations. She is also a board member for the UN Association of Greater Philadelphia.  

Kate Sweeney Smith, Esq.
Kate Sweeney Smith is an attorney practicing law in Montgomery County, with a master’s degree in taxation, who has lived in Delaware County almost all of her life. She has experience interfacing with mental health care services in both counties for youth and adults, and was a former school director and council member in Upper Darby Township. Kate was part of the team working on NAMI Main Line PA’s inaugural walk in 2015, when she worked as an independent communications contractor. Now that her youngest child is in high school, Kate is eager to focus on increasing access to mental health care and supporting the expansion of NAMI Main Line PA’s services in Delaware County. 

Kristine Songster, M.Ed., ex officio
Kristine Songster has been doing administrative work for NAMI Main Line PA for more than 10 years.  She supports the board of directors and committees in their work and serves as co-chair for our annual awareness and fundraising walk.  She has a family member with serious mental illness.

Danielle Sulpizio
Danielle Sulpizio has been a member of NAMI Main Line PA for the past three years, and participates on the Education Support and Outreach team. She shares her story during speaking engagements as part of the In Our Own Voice program, and facilitates a Connections Support Group that meets 2 times per week. She is committed to bringing mental health issues into the light, and imparts a message of hope and possibility to students at various universities. She began volunteering for NAMI after benefitting from their support for her own depression and other mental health issues. She is pursuing a degree in psychology to continue down a path of service and education. 

 

Volunteers

With the help of our volunteer Board members and our many additional volunteers, all of our services are offered free of charge. Our accomplishments for the past year are summarized here.  To learn more about some of our long-term volunteers, please visit our Distinguished Service page. If you would like to join our dedicated and congenial group of volunteers, please go to our Volunteer with Us page.

Page last updated in March 2026.