OUR TEAM
The National Federation of Families (NFF) employs individuals dedicated to fulfilling the organization's mission with their skills covering a wide range of areas including social marketing, policy, leadership, and technical assistance. The majority of the team has lived experience as an individual or a parent/caregiver or family member who has navigated mental health and/substance use supports and services.
LYNDA GARGAN, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Professional Overview
Dr. Lynda Gargan is the Executive Director of the National Federation of Families, the nation’s largest advocacy organization dedicated to children, adolescents, and adults living with mental health and/or substance use challenges. A psychologist by training, with extensive expertise in behavioral health systems, workforce development, and health policy, Dr. Gargan brings decades of senior leadership experience to her work advancing integrated, community-based care across the continuum.
Dr. Gargan’s career spans clinical practice, federal technical assistance, litigation oversight, and executive leadership—positioning her as a nationally recognized authority on behavioral health access, reimbursement policy, and peer support workforce innovation. Her work is highly relevant to healthcare organizations, managed care entities, and insurance stakeholders seeking to improve outcomes and reduce long-term costs associated with untreated mental health and substance use disorders.
Healthcare Policy & Reimbursement Leadership
Among Dr. Gargan’s most impactful contributions is her successful collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a reimbursement pathway for Family Peer Support Services. This milestone initiative created a sustainable funding mechanism within existing healthcare financing frameworks, expanding access to evidence-informed peer support at the system level.
Under her leadership, the National Federation has fully operationalized the Family Peer Specialist Certification—a structured credentialing program that leverages lived experience and specialized training to support families navigating behavioral health systems. This workforce development model represents a cost-effective, scalable approach to improving care coordination and reducing unnecessary utilization.
Dr. Gargan currently serves as Principal Investigator for SAMHSA’s first National Family Support Technical Assistance Center, a five-year federal award focused on building statewide and national infrastructure to support families affected by mental health and substance use disorders across the lifespan.
Clinical Expertise & Complex Case Management
A psychologist specializing in co-occurring mental health and intellectual disabilities, Dr. Gargan has deep expertise in complex, high-acuity populations—including individuals with dual diagnoses who have historically been among the highest utilizers of institutional and emergency healthcare resources. As Deputy Special Master for the United States Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit), she oversaw the successful community reintegration of approximately 1,000 individuals previously institutionalized in Texas, in resolution of the class action Gary W. v. State of Louisiana.
Dr. Gargan subsequently served as Clinical Director in Thomas S. v. North Carolina (United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit), overseeing the transition of approximately 1,200 adults from state psychiatric hospitals to community-based placements. These efforts resulted in measurable improvements in diagnostic accuracy, care appropriateness, and long-term community tenure for highly vulnerable populations.
Behavioral Health System & Program Leadership
Dr. Gargan has held senior leadership roles across the local, state, and federal levels of the behavioral health system. She has served as Project Manager and Project Director for two federally funded Supported Employment Technical Assistance Centers, and as Chief Executive Officer of an agency specializing in Intensive In-Home Family Therapy services—supporting families engaged with both mental health and substance use treatment systems.
Her background includes field research and longitudinal studies conducted in the context of multiple class action lawsuits, providing her with a rigorous, outcomes-oriented perspective on program effectiveness, care quality, and system-level accountability. This evidence-based foundation informs her approach to policy development, workforce strategy, and healthcare partnerships.
Community Health & Underserved Populations
A native of West Virginia, Dr. Gargan brings firsthand knowledge of the health disparities and access challenges facing rural and Appalachian communities—including the profound impact of the opioid crisis on family systems and local healthcare infrastructure. Her personal and professional experience uniquely positions her as a resource for health plans, insurers, and provider organizations seeking to develop effective strategies for underserved and high-need populations.
Dr. Gargan is committed to advancing integrated, whole-person approaches to care that address the intersection of mental health, substance use, and medical comorbidities—recognizing that effective treatment of behavioral health conditions is essential to achieving sustainable improvements in overall health outcomes and cost performance.
GAIL CORMIER, MS
Director of Technical Assistance
Gail Cormier, MS is the Director of Technical Assistance for the National Federation of Families. Here she served as the Director of the National Family Support Technical Assistance Center (NFSTAC), the nation’s first SAMHSA‑funded Family Center of Excellence dedicated to supporting families and caregivers of children—of any age—who experience serious mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Under her leadership, NFSTAC operated until its sunset in September 2025. In this role, Ms. Cormier led a national team of staff and subject‑matter experts, ensuring the Center met the evolving needs of families across the lifespan who were navigating behavioral health and substance use challenges.
Throughout her career, Ms. Cormier has provided national and statewide technical assistance, elevating the voices of families, youth, and young adults. She is a recognized national family leader with both professional expertise and deep family‑lived experience. Her work has contributed to the development of federal programs serving at‑risk and vulnerable individuals, families, and youth. Prior to joining the National Federation of Families, she spent 14 years as Executive Director of North Carolina Families United, the state chapter of the National Federation of Families. There, she led statewide efforts to build and strengthen both the Family Peer Specialist workforce and the Youth Peer Workforce.
With more than three decades of experience working at the intersection of children’s mental health and child‑serving systems, Ms. Cormier has advocated at both the individual and policy levels, helping families navigate complex systems and building collaborative partnerships with professionals and agencies. Her areas of expertise include organizational management, grant and program development, staff supervision and training, parent peer support, family engagement, curriculum development, and systems of care. Drawing on her professional background and her personal experience as a parent of two children with mental health challenges, she consults nationally on parent peer support certification, workforce development, program design, and service delivery. She also develops curricula, provides training on a range of children’s mental health topics, and contributes to research and policy initiatives that advance the field.
Ms. Cormier is a co‑developer of the University of New Hampshire’s nationally recognized best practice model, RENEW, a care coordination process for transition‑age youth with Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED). She provided oversight for SAMHSA‑funded Statewide Family Network grants in both New Hampshire and North Carolina from 1996 to 2019. Over the course of her career, she has served as Project Director for seven federal grants funded by SAMHSA, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Administration for Children and Families—each focused on strengthening supports for families and their children across the lifespan. She continues to support family‑run organizations, family peer support programs, and policy‑making bodies that shape child‑, youth‑, and family‑serving systems nationwide.
Grounded in her lived and professional experience, Ms. Cormier understands that parenting does not end when a child turns 21. Families face challenges at every stage of development, and caregivers need support as their children transition from childhood to adulthood and beyond. She is committed to ensuring that families—and the family peer workforce that supports them—have access to the most current tools, information, and guidance needed to navigate complex systems and help their children thrive. Contact Gail at gcormier@ffcmh.org.
MICHELLE COVINGTON
Project Manager
For over 30 years, Michelle has been a dedicated advocate for children and families experiencing behavioral health challenges. She brought her life and professional experience to the Federation in 2017. Michelle believes firmly that every family should have access to the services they need for both their mental health and physical health. This commitment to parity shows in the work she does on behalf of the Federation in the evaluation of legislation, policy and advocacy at both the national and state level. Michelle serves as a liaison with Federation affiliates, working closely with them to addressing issues at the state and local levels.
Michelle began her career as an intensive family preservation therapist and that core belief that family is the expert on their family and that they are essential partners in services has driven her work and leadership of others throughout her career. Seeing a gap in services that was essential for families, Michelle worked with her agency and managed care organizations to create and fund a mobile therapy program that allowed for therapists to go into the homes and work with children in counties where there was not easy access to children’s therapists. Additionally, she brings experience in directing community-based services for children at a statewide level that included case management, respite services, mobile therapy and grant programs providing intensive in-home services to drug affected families.
Michelle has bachelor’s in social work and a master’s in marriage and family counseling. As the proud mother of two adult children, a Mimi to two, Michelle is dedicated to see that all children and families have access to the services they need to achieve their greatest potential. Contact Michelle at mcovington@ffcmh.org.
ANGELA RADZEVICH
Business & Digital Marketing Consultant
Angela is from England and has been in the U.S. for 14 years. She comes to us with over 20 years' experience in Project Management, Marketing, HR & Business Operational roles from England, Belgium and the U.S along with a bachelor’s in international business management & French from Northumbria University in the U.K.
With lived experience supporting family members with mental health & substance use disorders, Angela’s interests lie in understanding childhood emotional wellbeing and she has become a certified Emotional Freedom Coach and Holistic Nutritionist so she can support herself as well as friends & family members on their holistic healing journeys.
Angela wholeheartedly advocates that all families and their lvoed ones should receive person-centered mental health support. You can reach Angela at ARadzevich@ffcmh.org.