Cheri Andes joined Samaritans as the Director of Grief Support Services in January 2019. Cheri was most recently the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Massachusetts, a vital state resource for individuals and families facing the challenges of mental illness, providing free mental health family-based education, family and peer support and grassroots advocacy.
Prior to her work there, Cheri worked as the Director of Organizing Strategy with Leadership for Educational Equity, helping to found and mentor new educational equity organizations in New York, Connecticut, and Boston. She led the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) for nine of her fourteen year tenure there, and is widely credited with spearheading the organization’s significant contribution to passing health care reform in the State. She is also credited with leading a grassroots process for defining what affordable and quality coverage would look like for the state’s poorest residents.
Cheri lives in Framingham, MA with her family. She holds a BA in English from Bucknell University and a MA in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College.
