Lisa St. George

Lisa St. George, MSW, CPRP, CPSS, has over 40 years of experience in the health and human services field. She recently served as the vice president of peer support and empowerment at RI International, a 501c3 nonprofit mental health organization. Her work with RI spanned 23 years, during which time she provided executive leadership and program development in the organization’s peer support workforce and programs in Arizona, California, and New Zealand. She is a principle author of RI International’s Peer Employment Training, which has trained over 17,000 peer support workers nationally and internationally. She has also written over 100 training tools, articles, publications, and presentations focused on peer support, recovery, inpatient psychiatric care, and crisis services. Most recently, she created a fifteen-module training titled Crisis Training for Peer Supporters and Other Paraprofessionals (2022). The training was developed in response to the need for trained individuals to join the workforce following implementation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

St. George’s awards include the National Council of Mental Wellbeing Peer Specialist of the Year, the San Diego Mental Health Director’s Program of the Year, the Mental Health Association of California’s Healthcare Hero Award, and the Elton George Armstrong Award. Her publications include the textbook chapters “The Emerging Field of Peer Support within Mental Health Services” in the book Workforce Development Theory and Practice in the Mental Health Sector (2017), “Self-Advocacy and Empowerment” in the Handbook of Recovery in Inpatient Psychiatry (2016), and the chapter on assessment in the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association’s Workbook for Certification (2003). St. George serves as a peer reviewer for several professional journals and believes in supporting the growth of knowledge in the field.

St. George served as a faculty associate at Arizona State University, where she taught the master’s level social work course, Mental Illness, Recovery, and Social Justice. She supports the mental health community nationally on the national team of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and as a member of SPRC’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee. In Phoenix, Ariz., she served as vice chair of the Maricopa Human Rights Committee and as a member of the Arizona Behavioral Health Planning Council.

St. George received a bachelor’s and master’s in social work from Arizona State University. She was a board member of the International Association of Peer Supporters for fifteen years and sat as board chair for three years. As an Open Minds advisory board member, St. George supports organizations and systems in the development of peer support and recovery services as well as training and consultation in a variety of areas. She has also worked in childhood oncology and child protective services. She researched and developed a care protocol for infants who have experienced fetal cocaine exposure for the State of Arizona Child Protective Services. St. George supports underserved populations in her community, especially refugees, through education, support, and guidance. She believes in the resiliency of the human spirit, and the inherent strength of people with trauma, mental health, and addiction challenges.