Palisadian public relations and marketing consultant Lisa Petrazzolo has joined the board of directors of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services; a provider of mental health, substance use disorder and wellness services to more than 74,000 children and adults in 11 locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties each year.
“We need to create more awareness around mental illness,” Petrazzolo said. “Individuals who have mental illness or have a family member with mental illness need to know there are resources out there and that they are not alone. It’s time to start talking about it.”
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Petrazzolo, who became interested in mental health advocacy during a family member’s struggle with mental illness will rely on her expertise in branding and social media to assist the agency as it seeks to engage a new generation of followers and supporters.
She will co-chair Didi Hirsch’s new branding committee alongside fellow board member, Shawn Amos, founder of Freshwire, a social media management firm. Petrazzolo and Amos also will co-chair Didi Hirsch’s annual “Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards” in 2015.
Currently, the Suicide Prevention Center’s Crisis Line at Didi Hirsch has English- and Spanish-speaking counselors available 24/7, is one of five centers nationwide to operate the Disaster Distress Helpline, trains 25,000 people a year in suicide prevention and offers support groups for people who have attempted and those who have lost loved ones to suicide.
“Young people have a strong voice and use social media to talk about what they stand for,” Petrazzolo said. “Continuing to build the right support, community and friendships will propel Didi Hirsch into the future.”
Petrazzolo started her career in Washington, D.C. where she interned for Senator John McCain and public relations powerhouse FleishmanHillard. She later joined King World Productions in New York as a senior publicist and then went on to work at Lisa Lori Communications and Violet Communications, which she co-founded. She also served as marketing director at the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s highly successful “Stand Up to Cancer” campaign.
Petrazzolo and her husband Emile Gladstone, a movie and television manager and producer, live in Rustic Canyon with their two young children.
Learn more at www.didihirsch.org.
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