Barbara Thompson is the executive director of NAMI Indiana, the state chapter for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She began volunteering with the organization after participating in a NAMI Family-to-Family education class. Today her work with NAMI Indiana includes overseeing the development of the 16 NAMI affiliates around the state, the growth of NAMI programming, and systems change through advocacy. Barbara sits on the state Mental Health and Addiction Planning and Advisory Council, the Indiana Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group, and the Indiana Commission on Rehabilitation Services. Before her work with NAMI Indiana, Barbara worked as a reporter for an NBC affiliate in Ohio and West Virginia covering all types of stories from politics to crime. Barbara earned her B.A. in Telecommunications from Ball State University.