The CMHEP Team

Alex Filippelli (they/he) is a queer and trans white settler and documented foreign worker who has dedicated their career to promoting health equity, racial, and gender justice. Alex is joining CMHEP as a Research/TA Specialist with CARS. They bring deep knowledge of qualitative research and evaluation, including specific focus on LGBTQ+ community health needs and barriers. As an educator, Alex has developed and provided training and education on program evaluation, harm reduction, trauma-informed, anti-racist and anti-oppressive frameworks.

Prior to joining CARS, Alex was part-time faculty with CSU Sacramento’s Division of Social Work. They also have extensive experience in non-profit management, program evaluation, and direct service, including having spent several years evaluating Gender Health Center, Sacramento’s Trans and LGBQ-affirming behavioral workforce development program as part of the California Reducing Disparities Project. Prior to immigrating to the US, Alex worked as a participatory action researcher using arts-based methods in the gender-based violence prevention field. Alex has also supported white people to unlearn racism and promote mutual aid initiatives as part of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).

Alex holds an MSW from the University of Victoria, Canada. Alex is also a cat lover and vintage Volkswagen enthusiast. When not working they enjoy spending time outdoors gardening, hiking, cycling, camping, and backpacking.

Ayanna McGee is the Project Co-Director for the Community Mental Health Equity Project (CMHEP) TA Center where she provides guidance and coordination over statewide workforce capacity initiatives that improve culturally responsive behavioral health practice. She has a broad base of experience in public health with expertise in program management, grant writing and administration, and evaluation. She has worked across public and nonprofit settings, focusing on youth and community development, food access, and basic health needs. While leading after school programs and community activities for youth in the City of Tracy, Ayanna interned with San Joaquin County Public Health Services supporting quality improvement within the STD/TB unit. After serving as a 2017 Health Equity Fellow for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health (OMH), Region 9, Ayanna transitioned into her role as Grants Coordinator for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services where she supported the growth of several food access and family support programs for economically disadvantaged populations across Sacramento County. Additionally, Ayanna served as Development Co-Chair of the American Public Health Association – Student Assembly (APHA-SA) in 2021, receiving the Chair Citation Award.

Jeremy Danté comes from an operational background in Finance, Human Resources and Payroll from the University of California Berkeley. As the Community Mental Health Equity Project Coordinator, Jeremy also utilizes his experience from the entertainment industry working in High Fashion in New York City, and in Commercial and Music Video Production in Los Angeles. Bringing a multitude of lived experience to the team, Jeremy provides a unique approach to project coordination as a creative thinker who thrives on communication and adaptability. Prior to his role at the Center for Applied Research Solutions with the CMHEP team, Jeremy served as Executive Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer at The Golden Gate Bridge. Jeremy is particularly skilled working across cultural differences in terms of ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people, and people living with disabilities. Valuing the importance of language to accessing culturally responsive services, intergenerational wisdom, evidence-based practices, and community defined evidence, Jeremy is eager to work with staff across California county Behavioral Health Departments and community-based organizations to address local behavioral health disparities.

Leah Tallchief is joining the CMHEP team at the Center for Applied Research Solutions as a research associate/technical assistant. She comes from an equity, health, data, and business background specializing in county behavioral health. Following her masters in psychological sciences from Chico State, she worked in the private sector as a supervisor and program coordinator in the bay area. She wanted to utilize and continue her education, so she returned to Chico and began with Butte County as a fiscal analyst and specialized in SUD programs, Medi-Cal, DESS, and HUD working with their billing, contracts, audits, cost-reporting, and invoicing. During this time, she received her second master’s in business administration with the goal of becoming a director. Following graduation, she became Butte County’s training coordinator and senior analyst for human resources, responsible for tracking all Butte County’s training. This role also involved working together with the local communities of Hmong, Latinx, and the Stonewall Alliance to build trainings for staff to overcome disparities and learn more about their population served. After almost 10 years in Butte County, she moved to Sutter-Yuba County and became the Ethnic Services Manager, quality assurance analyst, QIC coordinator, and data analyst for their dual county behavioral health program. Leah is excited to bring this experience into the CARS environment and help develop tools and trainings to assist counties with their equity goals and reduce disparities. 

Martin Weis, PhD, has over ten years’ experience working with both quantitative and qualitative data to identify trends, model outcomes, and develop data-driven solutions. Much of his work on CMHEP has focused on developing automated tools that support counties with collecting, updating, and visualizing county-specific data. Additionally, he has supported the project by analyzing, synthesizing, and presenting research on diverse topics.

Miranda provides direction on product research and development, in addition to providing leadership on evaluation projects and TTA service delivery. She works across three statewide initiatives and on several local evaluation projects. She has experience in project management, qualitative data collection and analysis, culturally competent program administration, and the translation of research into evidence-based practices. Miranda has topical expertise across several mental and behavioral health areas, including juvenile justice, substance abuse prevention, criminal justice, mental health, violence prevention, and obesity prevention.

Miranda received her PhD from New York University in sociology. Her research interests include criminal justice systems; sex, gender, and sexuality; and the sociology of the law.

When not engaged curating resources for online research clearinghouses, Miranda happily curates the contents of her pantry and refrigerator. Despite terrific organization in her kitchen, she still regularly fails to cook everything that arrives in her CSA box before it goes bad.