Our Team

Our team is at the heart of everything we do. Together, we bring compassion, experience, and a shared commitment to supporting mental health and well-being throughout Tompkins County.

Josephine Gibson

Chief Executive Officer

Josephine Gibson has dedicated 26 years to MHATC and currently serves as its Chief Executive Officer. In her role, she provides strategic leadership for the organization, working closely with staff, community partners, and the Board of Directors to strengthen programs, expand access to peer support services, and advance MHATC's mission throughout the community. Drawing from her own lived experience and early struggles with mental illness, Josephine believes that recovery is a deeply personal and evolving process, marked by growth, setbacks, resilience, and the ongoing discovery of what wellness means for each person. Throughout her career, she has been a passionate advocate for peer support, believing that meaningful connection and mutual aid are essential ingredients in the healing process.
Josephine lives in Ithaca with her husband, two dogs, and is the proud mother of an adult daughter. She is also a caregiver to her father, a lifelong vegetarian, and an animal rights advocate.
Outside Interests: The ocean and marine life, traveling around the country by car, cooking, true crime podcasts, and Zillow.
Favorite Quote: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” – Greek Proverb

Jenny Miller

Chief Operating Officer

Jenny serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, where her work focuses on finance, operations, communications, and grant development. In addition to her organizational responsibilities, she provides peer counseling, community outreach, and mental health and life skills education. Jenny has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 30 years and has served on the boards of several local nonprofit organizations.
Jenny cares deeply about service, community, and the power of people helping one another. She has long been inspired by the principles of mutual aid, the idea that individuals can use their shared experiences to support, empower, and care for one another.
Outside Interests: Gardening, exploring the Finger Lakes with her husband, mid-century modern furniture and architecture, listening to Steely Dan, and spending time with her cats.
Favorite Quote: "If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden." — Frances Hodgson Burnett

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Katie Donovan

Recovery Services Coordinator

Katie is a Certified Recovery Peer Advocate with nine years of experience and ten years of personal sobriety. In her role at MHA, she works closely with individuals involved in the court system, providing peer support, advocacy, and recovery guidance through Ithaca Wellness and Recovery Court, Tompkins Treatment Court, and Family Treatment Court. Drawing on her own lived experience, Katie helps individuals navigate the challenges of recovery while building confidence, developing healthy coping skills, and working toward their personal goals.
Katie is passionate about meeting people where they are, offering hope without judgment, and reminding them that they are capable and worthy of living their best possible lives. Before beginning her career in peer advocacy, she spent ten years working as a television producer in New York City.
Outside Interests: Long walks on the beach, alone.
Favorite Quote: “I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” -Audre Lorde

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Diane Olden

Peer Advocate

Diane has been working for MHA for 2 plus years. Before that she was a Community Health nurse for Tompkins County Health Department for 31 years. She worked in Maternal Child/Family Health, and also Early Intervention as a service coordinator for families with children age birth to three experiencing developmental delays. Diane was always interested in exploring and supporting the emotional needs of families going through issues and its impact on their mental health and well being. This led her to come out of retirement and join the team as a part time adult peer advocate. She loves to hold heart space with people as they explore their lives and offer her support where needed. She holds a strong belief in the healing power of connection with people to help each other through…
Outside Interests: Hanging with her family, friends, as well as playing guitar and drum, leading singing circles and the Dances of Universal Peace, and dancing to live music-particularly the music of the Grateful Dead. You will often find her kayaking on Cayuga Lake in the summertime.
Favorite Quote: "Once in a while you can get shown the Light in the strangest of places if you look at it right." -Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia

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Johnathan Cook

Family Peer Advocate

Jonathan brings three decades of study and exploration of emotional motivation, human connection, and the rituals that strengthen communities to his role as Family Peer Advocate. He is passionate about supporting families through empathy, shared understanding, and the belief that strong relationships are central to well-being.
Jonathan is the father of three young adult children and can often be found at the dog park with his 15-year-old dog, Hermes, who remains a puppy at heart.
Outside interests: tending a garden, writing speculative fiction
Favorite Quote: "To be courageous means at bottom to be heartfelt." - David Whyte

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Gabriella Cohen

Administrative Assistant

Gabriella was born and raised in Ithaca, NY. With her artistic eye, people skills, and a B.A. in Psychology from Nazareth College, she has a passion for helping people design and maintain organized environments. From closets to digital files, Gabriella works with people to create efficient systems that make work flow smoother. She loves to see people become more comfortable, energized, and focused in their workspaces as things begin to click.
Outside of MHATC, Gabriella works at the Sciencenter in Ithaca and is the owner of a small crochet business. She has often used artistic expression as a way to unwind, destress and deal with symptoms of depression/anxiety. Because of her experience, Gabriella is launching a weekly Therapeutic Art Group at MHATC, that will provide a supportive space to help others express themselves creatively and promote emotional well-being.
Outside Interests: Crochet, Photography, Gaming, Drawing

Margo Polikoff

Community Services Coordinator

Coming soon.

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Gail Gumbert

Front Desk Volunteer

Gail has brought her concern for people's well-being to her volunteer role here at MHA. By fostering empathy and warmth she hopes to add to the compassionate and warm atmosphere at MHA.
Outside Interests: spending time with her husband and cats, knitting, all animals, all things nature related
Favorite Quote: “Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world.” - Che Guevara