Logo of the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, featuring a bright sun and waves in yellow, black, and teal colors.

About Us

  • FLMMHC

About Us

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Who We Are

Founded in 2015 by Heather Flynn, PhD, and Lauren DePaola, LCSW, the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative (FLMMHC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ensuring every Florida family has access to optimal mental health support. We are a statewide network of leaders, healthcare professionals, and advocates working together through a dedicated steering committee and collaborative workgroups to eliminate stigma and close critical gaps in perinatal care.

 

Meet Our Staff

Providers

We empower healthcare professionals by providing the education and clinical tools necessary to effectively screen, treat, and manage perinatal mental health conditions. By bridging the gap between research and practice, we ensure providers have access to evidence-based resources, peer coordination, and specialized training to improve patient outcomes and strengthen the statewide care network.

Families

We serve as a vital link for mothers, fathers, and families navigating the challenges of pregnancy and postpartum life. By advocating for policy changes and providing culturally tailored resources, we ensure that families—especially those in vulnerable or low-income communities—receive the holistic, psychosocial support they need. Our goal is to make sure no parent in Florida feels alone in their mental health journey.

Vision

Every woman in Florida and her family will receive the help and support they need for optimal maternal mental health and well-being. 

Mission

The Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative brings together statewide partners to close the critical gaps in perinatal mental health education, policy, prevention, treatment, and outcomes for women and their families. 

Goals

We eliminate stigma and expand access to evidence-based care through provider training, policy advocacy, and culturally tailored support. Our goal is to ensure every Florida family receives the holistic mental health resources they deserve.

Meet Our Staff

Heather A. Flynn, PhD

Co-Chair

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Sharon Ross-Donaldson

Co-Chair

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Monica Ragans

Program Manager

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Amandla Shabaka-Haynes, MD

Awareness Workgroup Chair

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Kirsten Ellingsen, PhD

Clinical Practice Workgroup Chair

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Dixie Morgese

Policy Workgroup Chair

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Heather Howard, MSW, Ph.D., LICSW (MA,RI), LCSW-QS

Research Workgroup Chair

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Jasmine Max, BS, CCMA

Program Support

 

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Angelica moreno, BS, CCMA

Program Support


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Sharon Ross Donaldson, MSW, LCSW

Co-Chair

Sharon Ross-Donaldson, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, (LCSW), serves as the CEO/President at the Center for Health Equity, Inc. (CHE) where she oversees all operations of the CHE. She is the Co-Chair of the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative. Sharon is also the Project Director and Principal Investigator of the Gadsden County Federal Healthy Start Project and also leads the activities of the Brother to Brother Project and the CHE Behavioral Health Center. She has worked extensively in the areas of maternal and child health, behavioral health, racial disparity in health outcomes with an emphasis on community-based health networks/models that address health, mental health, policies, systems, community and school outcomes. She has over 30 years of experience in the field of Health and Human Services including program administration, operating businesses, training and curriculum development, program planning, development & implementation, research, evaluation & data collection, community organization, understanding of multi-level systems, clinical supervision, mentoring and motivating people.

Sharon has served as a National Peer Reviewer for the Council on Accreditation, Prevent Child Abuse America/Healthy Families America, A Hague Evaluator and a reviewer for the United States Marine Corp. She is an Adjunct Professor at the FSU College of Social Work (CSW) and teaching has focused on Child Welfare Practice and Seminar Practicum field experience. She is a Rostered Child Parent Psychotherapist (CPP), trained in Moving Beyond Depression, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Specialist (EMDR), Infant Mental Health, and is a Certified Mental Health First Aid National Trainer. She is currently an apprentice in CPP trainer, working towards becoming a state/national trainer.

Monica Ragans

Program Support

Monica Ragans earned her Bachelor of Science in Social Science from Florida State University and has been with the FSU College of Medicine since 2006. She currently serves as Program Manager for the Center for Behavioral Health Integration (CBHI) within the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.

In her role, Monica leads the design, development, and implementation of key behavioral health initiatives, including oversight of the Florida Behavioral Health IMPACT (FL BH IMPACT) Program, which supports both the statewide Maternal and Perinatal Mental Health Program and the Regional Pediatric Behavioral Health Program. She collaborates closely with leadership and partners to ensure alignment with Florida Department of Health and university guidelines, while managing program development, contracts, and budgets. Monica also leads data strategy and program evaluation efforts to support continuous improvement.

An active member of the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative for the past three years, Monica has led the planning of its annual conference for the last two years. Outside of work, she is a wife and mom to four boys and enjoys spending time at the beach and at the baseball field. She also has two dogs, Dixie and Maybelle.

Amandla Shabaka-Haynes, MD

Awareness Workgroup Chair

Amandla Shabaka-Haynes, M.D. is a native of Tallahassee, Florida. She received her B.S. in Biology/Pre-medicine at Xavier University of Louisiana and completed her medical training at the Latin American School of Medicine. Dr. Haynes currently serves as Program Manager for perinatal psychiatric access programs at the Florida State University College of Medicine Center for Behavioral Health Integration. She coordinates the Florida Behavioral Health IMPACT Program and serves as the Resource and Referral Specialist; connecting clinicians and patients to psychiatric consultation and statewide behavioral health resources. She is a certified Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist and works to address behavioral health through traditional and alternative modalities.

Dr. Haynes supports practical efforts to improve birth outcomes and reduce health inequities locally and globally, actively advocating for health justice for BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color) communities. She has served as board member for Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition and Women's Health Liaison for the local Federally Qualified Health Center. In her volunteer roles, she serves as chair of the Awareness Workgroup of the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, Advisor for the Sister Friends Tallahassee Birthing Project, Women’s Health Educator for the Melanin Mothers Meet Postpartum Support Program, and Advisor for the Harambee House/Citizens for Environmental Justice. At her core, Dr. Haynes is a student of life, mother, mentor, an active local and international community member, a bilingual health educator, and a lover of music, folkloric dance, global foods and culture.

Dixie Morgese

Policy Workgroup Chair

Dixie L. Morgese has over twenty-five years of experience working with and advocating for families in multiple service environments. She has developed policy and implemented systems of care to serve communities in the areas of maternal child health, health equity, family risk and resiliency, HIV, trauma and substance use disorder. Ms. Morgese was a Certified Addictions Professional and an Internationally Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor for two decades (certification retired). She graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in human services from St. Leo University. She has worked with many partners on local, state, and national levels to address family resiliency, maternal substance use, and community approaches to support behavioral health. She has provided consultation to the Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW), the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), the National Association of Counites (NaCo), the National League of Cities, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, and the Florida Department of Health.

Currently she provides technical consulting and training and serves on the Advisory Board of the Volusia Recovery Alliance, is the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Commonsense Childbirth, Inc., and on the Board of Directors of Baby Steps of Daytona Beach, and serves as the Policy Workgroup Chair for the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative. Ms. Morgese retired after fifteen years as the Executive Director of the Healthy Start Coalition of Flagler and Volusia Counties. Ms. Morgese self identifies as a woman in recovery from trauma and substance use disorder and continues to work directly with people seeking a pathway to a better quality of life as a coach and recovery sponsor.

Heather Howard, MSW, Ph.D., LICSW (MA,RI), LCSW-QS

Research Workgroup Chair

Dr. Howard has over 40 peer-reviewed publications which focus on health empowerment, interprofessional practice, and factors associated with adherence to standard of care and the use of shared decision making with pregnant women presenting with substance use disorder. These publications emphasize the importance of decreasing stigma for perinatal women who are impacted by trauma and substance use, and to utilizing interprofessional approaches involving clinicians, social workers, and health educators, focusing primarily on health disparities and public health responses to maternal substance use. She has been invited to speak at national and international conferences in health and substance use. She has received over $500,000 in state and federal grants in behavioral health research. She is active in the peer-recovery oriented community in South Florida, and created the trauma-informed care-learning module for the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Initiative. She also collaborated with FAU’s College of Medicine as a co-investigator and shared-decision making trainer for the SAMHSA State Opioid Response Grant Curriculum Development and Implementation Project. Her recent research was a community-based study with mothers impacted by substance use and the intersection of the child welfare system with results indicating pregnant women needing information regarding treatment resources and non-stigmatic support due to the traumatic experience of infant removal.​

Jasmine Max

Program Support

Jasmine Max is a first-generation graduate of Florida State University with a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and certification as a Clinical Medical Assistant. Within the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, she serves as Program Support and is often the first point of contact for questions, connections, and collaborative initiatives. She has been involved with the FLMMHC since her freshman year of college.
Outside of FLMMHC, Jasmine works as the Flynn Lab DIS Manager and Researcher within the Center for Behavioral Health Integration in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine. She also serves as a board member for AddUS Inc. and is the current President-Elect of the National Premedical Student Division of the American Medical Women's Association.
Outside of her professional and academic work, Jasmine enjoys spending time with her significant other and close friends, as well as playing volleyball across indoor, sand, and grass leagues.
Jasmine’s future goals include training as an OB/GYN with additional psychiatric expertise, advancing research and education in perinatal mental health, and mentoring first-generation students pursuing careers in medicine.

Angelica Moreno

Program Support

Angelica Moreno is the Outreach and Marketing Coordinator for the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, where she supports outreach initiatives, communications, and creative marketing efforts to expand awareness of maternal mental health resources across Florida. Prior to this role, she served as a Directed Independent Study (DIS) student under Dr. Flynn, contributing to research and advocacy efforts focused on healthcare disparities and patient-centered care.
Angelica graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences and is a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA). As an aspiring physician, she is passionate about healthcare advocacy, community outreach, and improving access to equitable care. Outside of her professional work, Angelica enjoys photography and graphic design as creative outlets that allow her to connect storytelling with visual communication.