Elise Banks-Lovely
Nominated by NAMI Texas
Member, NAMI Greater Houston (TX)
Listen to Elise's Candidate Speech
Job Title or Position:
NAMI Leadership Experience:
- NAMI Texas Board: 2017 - Present
Additional NAMI Involvement:
- I became NAMI's first National Ambassador in 2015. Since then, I have had the opportunity to travel across the country representing NAMI's mission, be featured on, and guest host, NAMI's podcast 'Hope Starts with Us', and have my articles featured in NAMI's magazine.
Board Service:
- Menninger Foundation Board: 2017 - Present; Nick Finnegan Counseling Center: 2022 - Present
Public Service:
- Miss International 2015; Miss Texas International 2015; Miss Bay Area 2012; Miss Bay Area 2007. With all four titles, my platform was mental health awareness, and I traveled extensively to share the importance of breaking the stigma in the field.
Relationship to Mental Health:
- Family member or direct support of someone with mental illness, Provider/mental health professional/employee in the field, Non-profit advocate
Candidate Strengths Assessment
The candidate indicated they have experience in the following areas that will help NAMI achieve its mission and strategic goals:
- Advocacy, Mental Health Service/Support
The candidate indicated they have connections and networks in the following areas:
- Entertainment/Film/Television/The Arts, Human Resources/Personnel, Legal/Law, Military/Veterans, Social Media
Candidate Leadership Style
The candidate indicated the following descriptors represent their leadership style:
- Action-oriented, Decisive, Peacemaker, Team Player
Candidate Narrative
The candidate indicated specific skill areas identified as high priority for the 2025-2026 Board where they excel and additional skill areas that would be an asset to the NAMI Board:
Communications Strategy: Specifically in social media, my background has allowed me to grow my personal social media to 70k followers. I have also had the opportunity support a business' social media to 11k followers within a short time-frame. Peer Support Service Delivery: Having been in the field since 2014, my life's work has been to provide an excellent service to patients, colleagues, and for peers and providers to know their resources.
As a NAMI National Ambassador, I've had the opportunity to travel to represent NAMI. From delivering workshops, interviewing with news outlets, and maintaining relationships with NAMI's 3rd party partners, this is work I would be honored to continue to do.
I personally have helped advance the NAMI mission in my community by...
Maintaining a positive relationship with NAMI's 3rd party partners. Specifically, I have been representing NAMI at Miraval Resorts since 2022 and have worked with the NAMI team to deliver three more weeks of workshops throughout the rest of 2025.
I work well in coordination with other leaders to accomplish goals as evidenced by...
I am currently the longest tenured board member on the NAMI Texas Board of Directors. When joining the board, there were tensions and issues between the board and staff. I am pleased that our work, over the years, has brought on a positive relationship between the board and staff, a healthy financial composition, and put us in a positive trajectory as we celebrated 40 years last year.