Mental Health + Public Relations
Join us for our Lunchtime Conversation | Every Tuesday & Thursday | 12pm EST | IG LIVE
Tuesday, June 1st - Joan Branch, Founder, Interdynamics
Joan Branch, M.Ed., NCSP, began her career in DC Public Schools as a school psychologist and served two terms as President of the DC Association of School Psychologists and Delegate for the National Association of School Psychologists. She served two years as the Co-Chair of Mu.
From these experiences, Branch founded, Interdynamics, Inc. a behavioral health firm in Prince George’s County Maryland and has been providing psychological evaluations, therapy, training, and program development services locally and nationally to public and private organizations for more than twenty years. The firm has an impressive team of physicians, psychologists, professional counselors, and social workers with extensive experience in occupational and community mental health services.
Ms. Branch’s strong interest for children of First Responders and the military resulted in specialized focus around behavioral health programs for military facilities in New Jersey (Picatinny family advocacy programs), Virginia (Fort Bragg wounded warrior), and Maryland (Walter Reed National Military Medical Center healthcare providers), Office Of Military Commission (Grief and loss program for families of victims of 911), staffing for emergency preparedness with the Department of Health and Human Services, and the development of medical standards for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Branch has extensive experience in navigating with unions, building coalitions, and increasing access to behavioral health and addiction programs. Her local and national leadership roles have provided extensive training and success around standards development, as well as the development of policies and procedures consistent with best practices in behavioral health and addictions in multiple agencies.
Branch has been interviewed as an expert around Community Mental Health Services, Mental Health, and Covid-19, Mental Health as a Public Health Crisis, and increasing access to behavioral health services for Public Safety Workers. She has appeared on Fox News, and Prince George’s County Public Television frequently as an expert and vendor in providing Behavioral Health services. She has provided multiple training sessions around Mental health and Stress Management with both local and federal agencies including civilian and sworn officers. Interdynamics developed Wellness programs for multiple public safety organizations and has provided mental health support to Public Safety workers through various EAP programs around the Prince George’s County area.
She is a member of the Prince George’s County Behavioral Health Advisory Committee, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). She contributes as a community partner with the Prince George’s Office of Veteran’s Affairs, partners with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Prince George’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee, and Prince George’s County’ Local Behavioral Health Authority
Thursday, June 3rd - Dr. Leelannee K. Malin, Malin PR
Dr. Leelannee K. Malin is a communications practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in the communications industry. As the owner of Malin PR, a public relations consulting practice, she provides services in the Sports & Entertainment, Non Profit and Corporate Communications sectors while specializing in brokering community partnerships in the educational and sporting arenas. Her professional credits include managing projects with the NFL Players Association, IMPACT, The Miss USA franchise, Essence Music Festival Marketplace, MTV, professional athletes and government agencies. Her professional efforts have garnered her the honor of being selected as Prince George’s County Maryland, Forty Under 40 and a DMV Power Woman in Sports & Entertainment.
Armed with a B.A. in Mass Media Arts from Clark Atlanta University, an M.A. in Organizational Communications and Public Affairs from Bowie State University and a Ph.D. in Mass Communications Media Studies from Howard University, Malin is committed to cultivating the next generation of industry leaders by serving as a public relations lecturer and consultant for several colleges and universities to include Howard University. While at Howard, she has served as the consulting Communications Specialist for the historic Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, lecturer and sequence coordinator for the public relations concentration, director of the Annenberg Honors Program, facilitator of the Capstone Lab and advisor for Adopt-A-Team Programs, supporting partnerships with NBC Universal and CBS.
The intersection of her business and academic savvy extends beyond the classroom. Malin uses her professional practice to offer professional development support and advisement to her peers in the industry in her role as President on the executive board of the DC Chapter of Women in Sports and Events (WISE). In this role, she has increased chapter revenue and membership, while brokering sponsorships and partnerships deals with Under Armour, DC Divas, DC United and Caesar’s Entertainment.
Make sure to take a lunch break and join us!
Until the next,
EP