Mental Health Initiative
Apply Today
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content.
123-456-7890
Meet The Team
Lauren Conklin
Co-Founder, President of the Board
Lauren Conklin is a creative entrepreneur known for her work as a composer and performer as well as co-founding TurnTable Music Group and Skyline Studios. She is also a passionate advocate for mental health and a founder of the Mental Health Initiative, a nonprofit organization that seeks to provide resources for people experiencing severe or recurring mental health challenges.
Jessica Louverture
Co-Founder, Board Member
Jessie Louverture is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) who entered the mental health and social work fields in 2015. Her first internships and employment experiences were with non-profits aimed at providing services to children, families, and adults in crisis situations who have experienced domestic violence, homelessness, or sexual assault. During this period, Jessie implemented the Lethality Assessment Program at her local domestic violence resource center, supporting the development of programs and procedures and providing training for multiple law enforcement agencies on the program. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social work in 2017, Jessie continued her education to pursue her developing passion for counseling while continuing her work at the crisis center. Jessie then moved into a clinical counseling internship, where she provided court-ordered counseling to individuals charged with violent or substance-related offenses. Jessie received her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and a certificate in marriage and family therapy from Richmont Graduate University in 2020. In 2021, Jessie and her family moved to Nashville, where she worked as a therapist at BrightQuest Treatment Centers. At this long-term residential treatment center, Jessie counseled individuals who experience acute psychiatric illness and supported them in providing individual and group counseling as well as family therapy. During her time counseling families, Jessie often heard about the challenges families face trying to find their loved ones treatment and support, with roadblocks like finances, insurance coverage, and lack of awareness of need. Jessie cofounded the Mental Health Initiative with her sister, Lauren Conklin Johnson, based on the immediate need for these challenges to be addressed.
Jennifer Joseph-Woods
Program and Outreach Director
Jennifer brings over 10 years of experience in case management, behavioral health, service coordination, and program development within the nonprofit mental health field. Her work is rooted in a strong commitment to advancing mental health access, wellness, and equitable community support. She focuses on person-centered, trauma-informed programs that improve care coordination and support lasting outcomes for individuals and families. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, practicing yoga, trying new coffeeshops and restaurants, and exploring her new home in Nashville.
Katy Lindenmuth
Vice President of the Board
Katy Lindenmuth is a longtime editorial and marketing specialist with both passion and compassion for all things wellness. After back-to-back dream jobs at Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue, she pivoted to digital brand work for companies like Entertainment Tonight, Moët Hennessy, and the Property Brothers. Whether crafting ad copy or planning a social campaign, she believes in non-coercive strategies that build positive, organic relationships with the audience. Katy’s most rewarding project to date is ghostwriting a best-selling health and fitness book that has positively impacted tens of thousands of readers. Her non-profit experience includes Waggle (pet-dedicated crowdfunding), Many Hopes (advocacy for vulnerable children), and Heldref Publications (educational journals). Katy is thrilled to bring her industry-spanning insights to the MHI board.
Emily Falvey
Secretary of the Board
Emily Falvey is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter and alumna of Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, graduating summa cum laude in 2018 with a bachelor of arts in songwriting and a bachelor of business administration in music business. Emily signed an exclusive, worldwide publishing agreement with SMACKSongs in April 2018, and the single she penned for Big Loud artist MacKenzie Porter, “Seeing Other People,” reached number one on the Canada Country Airplay chart. Emily also has worked with artists such as Walker Hayes, Carly Pearce, Sam Fischer, Jimmie Allen, Tiera Kennedy, Callista Clark, Madison Kozak, Josh Kerr, and Jake Scott. She is a member of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Songwriter Series class of 2019, was voted Favorite Songwriter by Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP), and was named to The Nashville Briefing’s inaugural “30 Under 30” list. In addition to her day-to-day work as a professional songwriter and MHI secretary, Emily serves as Young Alumni Regent on Belmont University’s Board of Trustees, works as an adjunct professor in Belmont’s songwriting department, and gives back to K-12 students as a songwriting instructor and music industry liaison for WritersRoomU.
Christian Barker
Board Member, General Counsel
Named one of Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers, Christian Barker, Equity Partner, provides transactional representation for artists, songwriters, producers, independent record labels, independent music publishing companies, and artist management companies nationwide. He has signed songwriter and producer clients to nearly every publishing company in Nashville and beyond, with his crop of rising artist talent gaining momentum in all genres. Brokering deals for his clients totaling eight figures this past year, Christian attributes his success to thinking outside the box and putting his own creative spin on the practice of law. Because of his success, award-winning producers and songwriters have gravitated into his orbit, requesting his procurement skills in shopping their catalogs (songs and master royalties) to buyers internationally. Major buyers frequently use Christian as well, to assist in the location and acquisition of noteworthy music IP rights as they grow their portfolios. In addition, Christian represents clients in the TV/film, fine arts, and PR/digital media realms. He also advises on Web3/blockchain/NFT strategy and manages intellectual property portfolios for numerous businesses, both in and outside of the entertainment space. Outside of his practice, Christian remains active in the creative space as a consultant providing talent scouting, song plugging, and career advising services to songwriters, artists, labels, and publishers via his company FVLLGLΛSS, along with brand partnership and investment/business development activities.
Taylor Meuret
Board Member
Taylor has always had a passion for advocating for women and families to receive the highest care possible. She started her nursing career in 2018 and is currently a labor and delivery nurse in the OB emergency room in Nashville. She is a Middle Tennessee native and spent the last three years traveling the country as a travel RN, working in hospitals in need. Throughout her nursing career, she has also been drawn to mental health, looking for ways to improve care inside and outside of the hospital setting for every individual. Taylor is very excited to be on the board at Mental Health Initiative and looks forward to growing in the organization and helping out wherever needed. She is also looking forward to helping on the inpatient hospital aspect, offering and educating clinicians on how MHI helps directly with healthcare providers to take care of patients in need.
Emily King
Board Member
Emily King grew up in Knoxville and is excited to be back in Tennessee after living in the northeast for her studies and start of career. After studying marketing at Miami University, she moved to Philadelphia to study architecture and landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. During this time, she city-hopped for various school and work experiences and developed a passion for studying how thoughtful details and planning of the built environment can elevate the day-to-day and shape people’s lives. She moved to Washington, DC after graduation to start her career in a city that has the cultural amenities and urban lifestyle she had grown to love, but with abundant parks and open green areas which she also valued. After a few years, she returned to her home state to be a part of the Hastings Architecture design team. Architectural designer by week and park explorer by weekend, Emily has found a lot of joy in visiting all the natural areas around the Nashville area. If she’s not in a park, she can usually be found checking out one of Nashville’s restaurants or scrutinizing maps for her next trip. Emily learned about MHI through a book club and is excited to help improve people’s mental, emotional, and physical space.
Ben Johnson
Co-Founder
Ben Johnson is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and producer based in Nashville, Tenn. He launched his career with Charlie Puth's "Patient" and has gone on to earn cuts with Morgan Wallen, Justin Timberlake, Jelly Roll, John Legend, Ava Max, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown and Dasha, among other notable artists. Johnson has written 11 No. 1 hits, including Lee Brice's "One of Them Girls," which set a record as the first song to ever be named Song of the Year by all three performing rights organizations. His other works include HARDY's "Truck Bed" and "Give Heaven Some Hell," Dierks Bentley's "Gone," Parmalee's "Take My Name," Weezer's "All My Favorite Songs" and BigXthaPlug and Bailey Zimmerman's “All The Way,” which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs. Most recently, Ben starred in HITMAKERS, a Netflix docuseries that follows 12 hit songwriters across multiple writing camps.