Linda Raines is the CEO of the Mental Health Association of Maryland, the second oldest mental health advocacy group in the nation, and oversees an comprehensive platform of advocacy, education, training and services oversight programming with state and national impact.

She has led numerous policy coalitions unifying Maryland’s behavioral health community to improve care and outcomes, achieve mental health parity and enact criminal justice reform. Her efforts to establish the Maryland Consumer Quality Team, which conducts site visits to mental health and substance use community programs and facilities, have improved outcomes for individuals receiving public behavioral health services throughout Maryland. During her tenure, MHAMD became a founding partner of Mental Health First Aid USA, and leads the MHFA program in Maryland. She is also the CEO of BrainFutures, a a national nonprofit dedicated to improving human outcomes by assessing and advancing the practical applications of new scientific understanding of the brain.