NEWL Alum: Patti Schaffer
NEW Leadership alum ’19, Patti Schaffer plans to change the approach that insurance companies take when dealing with patients and claims in the realm of mental healthcare. Her ultimate aim is “to put mental health on equal footing with medical health [with] no separation.” In doing so, Patti feels that this would be an important step in “eras[ing] the social stigmas associated with mental health.”
Putting her experiences in the NEW Leadership program to work, Patti was excited to inform us that she had the opportunity to work alongside Congresswoman Chellie Pingree this past November (2019). Overall, she feels that her experiences in the 2019 NEW Leadership program “educated and empowered me to believe in my goals.” When exploring whether or not to apply to the program she “had several people tell me that it was an incredible program to empower women.” Having “always advocated for empowering women” herself, she decided it would be an excellent opportunity to continue with that goal. However, once she arrived at the program, she discovered that it was about empowering women but also “so much more, the NEW Leadership program is [the] most positive experience I have ever participated in. I tell everyone how honored I was to share in such a wonderfully uplifting program.”
We look forward to see how Patti is able to use her leadership skills to destigmatize mental health and thus revolutionize the healthcare industry.