Camera Shy Members
Kelly Ankenbrand Michael Joyce
Ed Shoener Matthew Spott
HelenMae Newcome

Board of Directors

Wendy Reed Pashinski

Wendy has over 34 years of behavior health experience with a combination of management and clinical experience.

Wendy joined Scranton Counseling Center in 2014 as the Vice President of Operations and is currently in the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Wendy has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Gerontology and a Master's Degree in Social Work. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has been on the NAMI board of directors since 2021.

Kadriana Martinez

Kadriana is a Latina woman and native of New York who has been part of the NEPA community for almost 10 years. She started her recovery in 2016, after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders the summer after her high school graduation.

In 2018, Kadriana and her family started the non-profit Roots Living Ministry, to provide supplementary and case management services and advocate for mental health in their community. In this venture, Kadriana found NAMI and fell in love with its mission. Kadriana is passionate about educating and providing mental health support, specifically in low-income and Hispanic communities where resources are scarce and communication is often a barrier.

She is a NAMI support group facilitator, presenter, and educator. Kadriana is also a Certified Peer Specialist and Certified Family Recovery Specialist.

Robert M. Carpenter

Bob is the Regional EMS Council Director at Emergency Medical Services of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Inc. where he is responsible for planning, development, maintaining, expanding, and improving the EMS system for the counties of Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming. Bob is certified as a Nationally Registered Paramedic and holds board certifications as a Community Paramedic and in Critical Incident Stress Management.

Bob has been actively involved with emergency services in Northeastern Pennsylvania since 2001 and has experience as a field EMS provider, EMS educator, Mobile Integrated Healthcare Paramedic, Peer Support Provider, and EMS system administrator.

Bob is passionate about EMS leadership, EMS education, peer support and provider mental health, process development, patient and community advocacy and safety, as well as all things related to pediatric injury prevention and patient care.

Bob is a founding member and the Operational Coordinator for the Gruen-Gow Memorial CISM Team of Northeastern Pennsylvania which was established in April 2014 to support first responders and first receivers in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Bob joined the NAMI Northeast team to help promote education on mental illness. HIs passion for supporting those with mental illness and mental health struggles comes from his own mental health journey as well as the journey of many family members and friends who have struggled, including the loss of a brother by suicide.

Melanie Hnath

Melanie Hnath is the Electronic Medical Records Coordinator for Behavioral Health in Honesdale, a historic town in Northeast Pennsylvania. After graduating high school in New Jersey, she earned an Associates of Arts in Humanities and Social Sciences and then a Bachelor of Arts in Education and History from State University of New York College at Cortland. She married her high school/college sweetheart after accepting a teaching position in Virginia. She continued her studies at the College of William and Mary and then University of Virginia. While in Virginia, she was a board member of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council and PTA.

After deciding to start a family, she and her husband, Steve, moved closer to their original home and settled in Honesdale. There, the family of 4 enjoy everything that the picturesque area has to offer from kayaking to hiking, to skiing, to bonfires, just to name a few of their favorite activities.

As her children grew, Melanie volunteered with local community events. For two years, she was the parent liaison for the Honesdale Head Start and then became an Executive Board Member for the PTA. After several years of being a stay-at-home mom and volunteering with multiple organizations, Melanie decided not to return to teaching, but to enter the mental health field instead.

She continues to volunteer with a variety of organizations and stays professionally busy as an active member of the Quality Improvement and Safety Committees for the Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers. She is always looking for ways to help others, which is why NAMI’s mission aligned so well with her personal and professional goals.