Mental Health Advisory Board Members

Nancy Dow-Witherbee , B.S., CPC, current Board Chair, resides in Council District 6. Ms. Dow-Witherbee is a Consumer-to-Provider graduate, and has been a Peer Specialist at Harborview Mental Health Services since 1999. In this capacity, she manages the Consumer Technology Center, provides peer support services, mentor development, computer access and training, multi-media services, and on–line employment assistance on the Supported Employment/Housing Team. She is also a Mental Health Transformation Grant trainer for Recovery and Resiliency Practices and on the advisory board of the State Office of Consumer Partnerships. She is a past board member of Humane Society of Seattle/King County and Rose House and enjoys gardening, photography and community theatre.

Eugene Wan, BS, MS, current Vice-Chair, resides in Council District 2. Mr. Wan is a graduate of Guilford College where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry and Minor in Mathematics, and the University of Washington where he received his Master of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering and Master of Library and Information Science. He worked as a computer technician, newsletter editor and office volunteer for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) of Greater Seattle in 2000-2003.

Lisbeth Eddy resides in Council District 5. Sergeant Eddy represents law enforcement on the Board. She has been with the Seattle Police Department for over 28 years in various capacities including as patrol Officer, as an Officer-Dispatcher; and as a hostage negotiator. In addition, she taught Criminal Law in 1988-1992 and served as faculty for the Team Three Training sponsored by Washington State Coalition for Domestic Violence in 1999. She is currently serving as coordinator/trainer of the Seattle Police Department Crisis Intervention Team. She also works as a phone volunteer at the King County Crisis Clinic.

Jim Nobles resides in Council District 2. Mr. Nobles works for the Recovery Centers of King County as a Shift Lead and Emergency Medical Technician. Mr. Nobles has dedicated his career to working with alcoholics, drug addicts and at-risk youth for the past 20 years. He is an EMT Instructor, Red Cross First Aid/CPR Instructor, a former Kitsap County Volunteer Firefighter, a former Kitsap County Fire Academy Instructor and a member of the Sierra Club. In 2005, he was elected to the Seattle Monorail Project Board. He is currently the chair of the Legislative Advocacy and Public Affairs Committee, a sub-committee of the Mental Health Advisory Board.

Eleanor Owen resides in Council District 4. Ms. Owen is a co-founder of the National Alliance for Mentally Ill and served as its president and executive director from 1979 to 2003. She is also a co-founder of Washington Coalition of Family Advocates for the Mentally Ill and served as its spokeperson in 1980-1985. Ms. Owen has served on numerous mental health/residential/corrections task forces and committees. Ms. Owen is also a recipient of several awards including the Jefferson Award for Outstanding Service to the Community in 1980; a nominee for the President’s Volunteer Action Award in 1982 and 1983; the Matrix Table Award for Women in Communication in 1985; and the NAMI Outstanding Advocate Award 2000.

Allan Panitch resides in Council District 4. Mr. Panitch is a graduate of Southwester Law School; Government contract management from Marshall-Wyth Law School, and Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation from Los Angeles County Sheriffs’ Academy. Mr. Panitch's professional career included contract and security management positions with Hughes Aircraft Co., Aydin Corporation, Litton Industries, Bechtel Corporation, and Lockheed Aircraft. He is a member of the Executive Board of Washington State CASA and a volunteer Guardian Ad Litem in Juvenile Court. In addition, he is Public Safety Chair for Queen Anne Community Council, Vice President for Public Safety, Uptown Alliance, and a member of Washington Department of Corrections Victims Council and Advisory Board-Justice for Homicide Victims, Inc. He served the 15^th U.S. Air Force as an Operations Specialist in Africa, Italy and Balkans. Mr. Panitch is the father of a public psychiatric social worker who was murdered by one of her clients.

Ron Sterling resides in Council District 8. Mr. Sterling has been in private practice as a general and geriatric psychiatrist for 33 years. He has written a great number of articles since 1998 published in the Butler County Chronicle, Kansas. He is a member in good standing of the American Psychiatric Association, Washington State Psychiatric Association, and American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He did volunteer work with Alcohol Information Resources, Inc., which provided educational skits and presentations concerning alcohol use and abuse to elementary and middle school students on Oahu, Hawaii.

Gwendolyn Williams resides in Council District 2. Ms. Williams has worked for over ten years as a mental health practitioner. She is an experienced drug and alcohol therapist and counselor. She served as director of GAEA Recovery House for Women in Victoria, British Columbia in 1998-2001. She co-founded the Systematic-Intensive Service-Treatment- for Empowering Recovery (SISTER) and served as its program director in 1995-1998 in Oakland, California. She is currently working for the Catholic Community Service as a case manager/social worker.