Kita S. Curry, PhD

Since Dr. Kita S. Curry took the helm at Didi Hirsch in 1999, the agency’s services have more than doubled. A passionate advocate for community mental health, she has testified before the California legislature and served on State Advisory Committees on Suicide Prevention and on Stigma and Discrimination. Past board president of Los Angeles’ and California’s mental health providers’ associations, she also served on the board of the National Council on Behavioral Health and is now on the Steering Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Her honors include an Eli Lilly Heroes in the Fight Award from NAMI Urban Los Angeles, SHero Award from former California Senator Curren Price, Jr., and 2016 Pioneer Woman of the Year Award from Councilmember Felipe Fuentes and the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women. Kita, who lost three family members to suicide, takes pride in giving back; when she was young and uninsured, she was treated for depression at a community mental health center. She earned her BA in English at the University of Pennsylvania and PhD in psychology at UCLA. An award-winning poet, her first full-length poetry collection, What Snakes Want (Mayapple Press), was published in May 2015.