Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Laklieshia Izzard.
Hi Dr. Izzard, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The Mental Health Expert and Community Leader journey continue to be one of great fulfillment. I am a licensed professional counselor in Georgia and New Jersey with a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from the largest Historically Black University (HBCU) in the nation North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from another great HBCU Fayetteville State University. I have been practicing in the mental health counseling field for close to 20 years. However, just three years ago my call to the Mental Health field began to extend beyond direct care, counselor education, and professional development. The purpose path of Community Mental Health servant leadership took me by surprise as I did not see it coming in that season. I really started to see my gift of community leadership flourish when I became a National Alliance on Mental illness of Georgia (NAMI Georgia) Board Director and founding member of their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee in 2020.
I provided initial leadership in 2021 creating, coordinating, and moderating our first virtual monthly panel series titled Courageous Conversations around Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), Mental Health, and Diversity amid COVID. Collaborating with more than thirty Georgia Community Stakeholders as selected panel speakers. The idea for this series of panel discussions came as a response to the urgent DEI movement related to the horrific murders of Ahmad Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. This was an amazing experience that I am eternally grateful impacted so many across our great state. The series was so impactful that it grabbed the attention of Janssen Pharmaceuticals to provide support in the areas of marketing and promotion for the series in the 2022 year. Other areas that have catapulted my community leadership are NAMI Georgia’s community-based programming and training. Currently, I am the program leader for our first NAMI Georgia’s Counselor Connections Support Group that I developed in 2020 just as COVID began as a partnership program with the American Counseling Association of Georgia during my presidential term in 2019-2020. I became trained in NAMI Georgia’s connections support group program and continued to spearhead this much needed support group as a NAMI Georgia program at the close of my presidential term.
As a NAMI Georgia Ending The Silence program trainer, I can provide mental health awareness to School Administrators, Teachers, Students, and Families. These are just a few programs where I have been given the opportunity to demonstrate effective community leadership. NAMI national recently invited me during May Mental Health Awareness Month to serve as the only NAMI state organization Board of Director and program leader panelist for NAMI Ask the Expert titled Lessons on the Impact of Trauma (This discussion can be viewed on the NAMI national YouTube page: https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-s-Ask-the-Expert/2022/NAMI-Ask-the-Expert-Lessons-on-the-Impact-of-Trauma). This was a high honor to be recognized as a Mental health Expert by the nation’s largest grassroot Mental Health organization dedicated to building better lives for millions of Americans affected by Mental Illness (nami.org). I am eternally grateful for this walk of purpose as a Mental Health Expert and Community Leader!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When you reach this high level of walking in purpose you come to realize that a smooth road is just not a part of the growth process. The challenges we face are there to teach us lessons if we do not get distracted. You will always hear me say, “Anything worth having is worth going the process”. There are no shortcuts to lasting success! While it does not appear to be a struggle it can very well be trying to accept all opportunities that come your way can overwhelm you, and distract you from your purpose. It is vital for me to prioritize the best opportunities so that I do not struggle with balance. While many opportunities are good, they are not always the best opportunities that align with your gifts, purpose, and the path to your destiny. I have learned to be very strategic and intentional about all opportunities that I accept, ensuring that they align with my God-given gifts and purpose! I stay in my lane of gifts. A challenge that I have encountered along the way is observing that not everyone will want to celebrate you during your high moments of purpose, however it is something I have grown to understand and accept. Not everyone can go with you on your journey of purpose. Walking in purpose guarantees that I will have a great deal of high moments to celebrate. I have discovered many ways to celebrate myself along this great journey of purpose. Embracing gratitude daily is just one of the ways I celebrate, it also keeps me humble and in the flow of continued blessings and favor. Gratitude is an amazing success principle. “When we are grateful for what we have it opens the door for more greatness to come”!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What an exciting question to ask. What are you focused on? I am extremely focused and grateful to be multifaceted in my “Doing”. I have been blessed to do multiple things that align with my gifts and purpose. I love our NC A&T State University slogan AGGIES DO! When you walk in purpose, you are constantly doing for the improvement of self and others. I will continue to focus on my doing as a Mental Health Expert and Community Leader. Currently, as a Mental Health Expert, I am intentional about speaking to my local community, across our great state of Georgia, and across state lines on Mental Health Awareness in a variety of areas. I have been blessed to cultivate my specialty area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a Mental Health Expert. A few examples of how I have recently accomplished this in my DEI Mental Health work are serving as a workshop presenter for American music executive Shanti Dias Silence the Shame Inc. Inaugural Suicide Prevention Summit in September 2021, presenting on BIPOC Youth and Suicide, as a Mental Health Expert panelist alongside Mrs. Keshia Knight Pulliam in October 2021 collaborating with NAMI national, Silence the Shame Inc., and Clark Atlanta University bringing Mental health awareness to college students of color (view at CAU YouTube recording: https://youtu.be/BNo_aQwDlqo) and as a Mental Health expert panelist for the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Northwest Georgia Chapter on Racism as a Public Health Crisis. Also serving as a panelist for The Links Inc. West Georgia Chapter and 100 Black Men of America Atlanta Chapter on events with a similar focus. I truly believe what has set me apart is my in-depth work with specific populations of African American Men in serving professions like the military, law enforcement officers, detention officers, and the incarcerated throughout my years in counseling.
As a result of this work and mentorships from phenomenal African American males like my Father James Evans, Uncle Clarence Izzard, and Pastors Dr. Kerwin Lee, Dr. Kevin Lee, Wayne Robinson, and Philip Nash; I established the African American Male Wellness Symposium as an answer to the silent cries of African American Men worldwide. I just hosted our 3rd annual symposium in partnership with New Birth Missionary Baptist Church where the senior pastor is Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant. This year’s sponsors were The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Cultural and linguistic team and Caresource of Georgia (YouTube recording: https://youtu.be/Rn0BNWQ_Mts). The symposium has seven African American male professional speakers and a keynote each year. We have been able to impact many across our communities speaking on topics like Mental Health Restoration, Mental Health Equity, Racial Equity, Racial Fatigue, Suicide Prevention, Social Justice, Community Edification and more. I am grateful to be the founder of this profound symposium and to share this much-needed awareness with our communities.
What makes you happy?
What makes me happy is fulfillment and that is what walking in my purpose does for me. I heard the late Dr. Myles Munroe say, “The greatest tragedy in life is life without a purpose”! That is living and not knowing why you are here. I awake extremely excited every morning, eager to see what great opportunities of purpose will come to me that day. I can assure you the law of purpose attraction is very active in my life and it feels really, really, really, good!! What also makes me happy is seeing the outcomes of my diligent service work. I was truly blessed to receive four service awards in 2021. A couple of the awards recognized my community service work in Mental Health DEI and Community Leadership. I was awarded with NAMI Georgia’s President Award in May 2021 for Innovative leadership as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion founding member. I received NAMI Georgia’s 2021 Outstanding Leader Award for exemplary and innovative program leadership. I will always be grateful for this level of service recognition.
Contact Info:
- Website: shekinahcts.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shekinahccts
- Youtube: Dr Laklieshia Izzard
Image Credits
Headshot: Lisa photos
