Virtual Community Forum

Amy Pierce, Via Hope, Peer Services Implementation Field Liaison

Amy has been working in the Peer Movement in the State of Texas for almost two decades and now serves as the Peer Services Field Liaison at Via Hope. Previously, she was the CEO of Resiliency Unleashed, an international training and consulting company focusing on the development and implementation of peer services. She started the first peer support program in the Texas state hospital system, was a peer support worker in a community mental health agency, and served as the Program Coordinator for a transitional peer residential housing project funded through the 1115 waiver program. Amy is a peer, and family member, a certified peer specialist supervisor, and trainer (Advanced Level Wrap facilitator, ASIST trainer, WHAM facilitator). Amy was previously Chair of the PAIMI Council in Texas and on the US National Disability Rights Board.

Beth Mitchell, Disability Rights Texas, Supervising Attorney/Litigation Coordinator

Beth Mitchell received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1991. Since that time, Beth has been employed with Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), the non-profit federally authorized Protection and Advocacy agency for Texas that protects and advocates on behalf of persons with disabilities. Initially her work primarily focused on representing individuals with mental illness in obtaining community services and advocating for their rights while in mental health, juvenile justice, and jail/prison facilities through system change, impact litigation, administrative proceedings, policy/rule making, and educating lawmakers during the legislative session. She is currently a Litigation Coordinator for DRTx and recently began the Residential Child Care Monitoring team at DRTx, assisting with monitoring the State’s compliance with the M.D. v. Abbott court order regarding the care and treatment of Texas’s foster youth. In addition to her work with DRTx, Beth also serves as one of the Texas Judicial Commissioners on Mental Health.

Ziyad Nuwayhid, Integral Care, Staff Psychiatrist
Ziyad Nuwayhid was born in Los Angeles, California and raised all over. He attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate and graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Medicine in 2012. Dr. Nuwayhid subsequently completed a residency in General Psychiatry in San Antonio in 2016 and a fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of California at Irvine in 2017. He has been with Austin Travis County Integral Care as a Staff Psychiatrist since 2018 and currently serves as the psychiatrist for the Travis County Correctional System.

Louise Lynch
Provider Network and Authority Officer, Integral Care
Louise F. Lynch is currently the Provider Network and Authority Officer at Integral Care. Her responsibilities include overseeing the development and management of over 500 network providers, ombudsman’s office, credentialing and claims payment and administrative supervision of utilization management and quality management. Louise is a family member of persons with behavioral health conditions. She currently serves as a member of Integral Care’s Board Staff Adhoc Committee on Racial Equity.