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Leadership

Our Leadership

Board of Directors

Joshua Ashby

CEO, Fleet Landing
My Reason Why
Joshua's Reason Why

To build a better world.

Nelson Bradshaw

Managing Director, Banking Strategies, Farther Financial
My Reason Why
Nelson's Reason Why

When this organization was initially formed we were focusing on normalizing the conversation about mental health. While that is still part of what Here Tomorrow wants to accomplish, we learned that the greater immediate need was to help those contemplating suicide “now”. Like I was, many folks are astounded to find out that resources are scarce outside of someone answering an initial call to a “hot line”.  Here Tomorrow’s “now” solution to provide immediate and ongoing help for those contemplating suicide is a game changer. Uniquely simple, yet easily replicable in what Here Tomorrow is doing, makes it easy for a board member like myself to promote it for obtaining funding initially in NE Florida, but with goals to go much further.

Kevin Craig Here Tomorrow Board Member

Kevin CRAIG

Regional Director - External Affairs, AT&T
My Reason Why
Kevin's Reason Why

 

 

Steven Gottfried

CEO, Equip ID
My Reason Why
Steven's Reason Why

I first backed Here Tomorrow because a friend in need requested me to. He had a vision to help individuals and families avoid the agony that he and his family had gone through. I wasn't sure how my tiny contribution could help, but I've since found that Here Tomorrow's local approach has made an incalculable difference in the lives of so many people. It's unfortunate that the organization's founder had to lose his son for me to grasp how help is typically given in tiny acts of compassion rather than in a spectacular setting.

Sheryl Johnson

Founder & President, Hearts 4 Minds
My Reason Why
Sheryl's Reason Why

A disease should never be used to define someone’s value or character.  The negative perception of mental illness – societal stigmatization, provider stigmatization and self-stigmatization – makes the mental health treatment journey more difficult and shameful.  But, mental illness is not a personal choice and should not be treated as such.  I work in honor and memory of our sweet son, Alex, who lost his battle with depression and anxiety in 2017.  A collaborative, welcoming solution that includes the family, without regard to ability to pay, should be the model for care.  Here Tomorrow delivers that model.

Denise Kenney

Retired Educator
My Reason Why
Denise's Reason Why

Here Tomorrow was fueled by the need to create a place that may have helped our Gary. Here Tomorrow is a space he would have felt comfortable walking into, experienced unconditional acceptance, offered immediate help, without worry of cost. The family and friends would be supported too. This is the mission with the model I believe will save lives.

Joe Kenney

Entrepreneur
My Reason Why
Joe's Reason Why

Joe Kenney

Chair & Founder
Email Joe
Joe's Story

Joe is a serial entrepreneur and founder of several companies including Commercial Fire, a nationwide fire and life safety company, of which he served as CEO until he sold the company in 2017.

On April 19, 2019 Joe lost his son Gary, age 30, to suicide. Prior to Gary’s death, Joe did everything he could to help Gary who was battling severe depression. When he and his son needed help the most, Joe encountered a healthcare system that was not equipped to advise him or help him keep Gary safe. He couldn’t find any help; he didn’t know where to go or what to do – and he felt he knew everybody. On the day of Gary’s funeral Joe made a decision. He decided to, again, create something that did not exist before, an entity designed to be there for people who are feeling hopeless and families that have no place to turn to for help.

Spurred to action by this greatest of loss, Joe set out to solve the most vexing problem of all, preventing suicide. When Here Tomorrow opened its doors in 2021, Joe thought, if Here Tomorrow can ensure that one son, one father, one brother, or one sister is here with us tomorrow, it would all be worth it. The Here Tomorrow Team is now connecting daily with people who are seriously contemplating suicide and offering real help when the stakes are highest.

Joe credits his success in business to his ability to envision the future and create something that did not exist before. Commercial Services was born out of a gap he saw in the market. Over time, he built the largest Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning company in the world and the largest nationwide independently owned Fire Services company in the US. Recently, he saw a gap in the mental health field that no one was filling: working with those contemplating suicide NOW, when they are most vulnerable, and helping them NOW. Just because it doesn’t exist doesn’t mean it can’t be attained.

According to Joe, the team at Here Tomorrow is a godsend that has created the most innovative answer to preventing suicide one could ever hope to imagine.

Watch Joe’s talk at the Jacksonville Women’s Network event with Mariel Hemingway (Click Here).
Back to Our Team

Jerry Sweat

Lead Pastor, Beach Church
My Reason Why
Jerry's Reason Why

My passion is to help those who suffer with mental illness and to save lives!

Advisory Board

Payton Cooper

My Reason Why
Payton's Reason Why

My passion for suicide prevention originates from a deeply personal place. Throughout my adolescent years of my life, I endured overwhelming suicidal ideation and hopelessness. If it were not for the access to the resources I had, I may not be here today. I believe that if everyone had access to the support and help they need, the world would be a vastly different place. The services offered by Here Tomorrow are revolutionary and can be the catalyst for such a change – in our community and the world.

Thank you,

Payton Cooper

Brandon Culp, MBA

My Reason Why
Brandon's Reason Why

My younger brother, Justin, was just 11 years old when he had his first of many suicide attempts. He was later diagnosed with Bipolar type 2. At the age of 25, he lost his life to suicide. I witnessed first-hand the gaps in our healthcare system that exists with our ability to provide appropriate, timely access and cost-efficient care for people struggling with mental illness and suicidal thoughts. Those gaps ravaged, and continues to ravage, our family. It has also fueled my career in non-profit healthcare. I believe ultimately, that not only did a broken system potentially cost my brother his life, but I do know that if my parents and I had access to the services that Here Tomorrow provides when we were in crisis, it would have changed our lives for the better.  Here Tomorrow fills those gaps by providing no-cost mental health care and support to not only those feeling hopeless and suicidal, but their families, too. There is no way to overstate the importance of this combination, and I see it as the cornerstone that will not only change our community, but truly the world.  I feel blessed to be part of this much needed and amazing organization by serving on the advisory board.

Caitlin Kenney

My Reason Why
Caitlin's Reason Why

My personal connection to Here Tomorrow stems from the loss of my brother to death by suicide in 2019. The work that Here Tomorrow is doing gives me hope that others like him, who are struggling with depression and feel left behind or left out of the system, will find connection and help when they need it most. I am proud to be part of this organization that puts people first, and strives to do a very real and very hard thing: save lives.

Cindy Marling

My Reason Why
Cindy's Reason Why
Losing my son to suicide in 2007 was devastating to say the least, my life was forever changed. I decided then I had to take my sadness and do something to stop suicide and the pain it leaves behind. I have been been a co-facilitator for about 5 years for a support group to help survivors after a suicide has happened. HereTomorrow is a ground breaking organization that gets help immediately to those that need it and I’m honored to serve on the advisory board. Change is coming and it’s coming because of Here Tomorrow!

Danielle Kuba

My Reason Why
Danielle's Reason Why

We hear a lot about “breaking the stigma” of mental health and suicide.  However, saying “we want to break the stigma” isn’t enough.  Talking about other peoples’ mental health challenges and life challenges isn’t enough.  Suicide prevention training isn’t enough.  The only way we will begin to truly break the stigma is by becoming vulnerable enough to be honest and open about our own struggles, and our own mental health challenges.  We will begin to truly save lives when we model vulnerability, share our stories, and allow others to see that they are not alone.  My work with Here Tomorrow as a member of the Advisory Board has motivated me to become more open and honest in sharing my own mental health struggles (as well as my positive experiences with therapy) with those around me.  As I head back into teaching at a high school level, I am driven to open the dialogue around mental health and suicide prevention amongst my colleagues, so that our students can feel comfortable sharing their needs and exposing their vulnerabilities to us as their educators.  We need to teach our kids that vulnerability is strength, not weakness.  A powerful connection can be formed when the “helpers” admit to needing help themselves at times, and through those connections, lives can be saved.

Francesca Reicherter

My Reason Why
Francesca's Reason Why

When I was 20 years old, I was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward following my third suicide attempt. I have seen the lack of accessibility and lack of quality care in our mental health care system firsthand, which is why I am so grateful for the work Here Tomorrow is doing. As a mental health nonprofit founder, one of my goals is to make quality resources accessible, a goal I share with Here Tomorrow and a goal that I look forward to being part of.

Bill Rotchford, MBA, MSW, CEAP

My Reason Why
Bill's Reason Why

As a long-term Employee Assistance Professional (EAP) helping people has been my personal mission for nearly 40 years.  I am passionate about helping Here Tomorrow be successful, sharing my  experience and my own successful recovery with others. I am so happy to be part of the team! Bill

Marsha Sargeant, M.S., Ph.D.

My Reason Why
Marsha's Reason Why

The mission of Here Tomorrow speaks to the very fabric of my personal and professional journey.  The harsh and sometimes violent bullying I experienced throughout childhood and adolescence led to my struggles with anxiety and depression. Even in early adulthood, I suffered from “shame attacks” coupled with the perpetual feeling of being fundamentally different from and inferior to others. It wasn’t until my early 30s that I sought help. Clearly, the stigma of “not being ok” was a formidable obstacle.

With this personal lens and also as the partner of someone who lives with Bipolar II and chronic PTSD, mental wellness has become a main personal and professional focus. So for me, it has always been important to be involved in helping people who are suffering in silence or in darkness. Here Tomorrow is doing exactly that.

Marsha N. Sargeant, MS, PhD

She/Her/Hers

Clinical Psychologist

Research Scientist & Consultant

Jon Wahila

My Reason Why
Jon's Reason Why

I think it is important to let others know that it is ok to ask for help.  It takes a far stronger person to ask for help and be willing to open up to share their struggles with others. Here Tomorrow has helped me tremendously on my journey and has been instrumental in helping me heal.  By sharing my experience hopefully it can help others that are struggling to take the first step to ask for help and realize that its ok to not be ok, but there is help available.

Sherry Warner, B.Ed, NCPS

My Reason Why
Sherry's Reason Why

We are all impacted by mental health whether for ourselves or a loved one and as a community. After spending decades of my life with unprocessed childhood trauma and struggling to raise children with significant mental health diagnoses, I found myself drained, broken, and confused. I felt like no one understood the pain I was experiencing and everyone had an opinion about how I should respond to my situation. I wasn't dead, but I also wasn't alive. I know what it feels like to be alone in the trenches. People can and do recover, but they need the necessary hope,  education, resources, and a supportive community to do so. At Here Tomorrow we are changing the question from, "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?" and assisting people with a unique peer model approach that really works. I am excited to be a part of something that is saving and changing lives.
 

Sherry Warner, B.Ed, NCPS

HRSA CRPS Project Coordinator

Read our 2021 Report to the Community.

Annual Report

Access special resources with our Press Kit.

Press Kit

It's okay to not be okay.

And it’s also okay to ask for help.

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