From October 1994 through April 2016, Phillip Saperia served as Executive Director of The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, the umbrella advocacy organization of New York’s behavioral health community, representing over 130 non-profit community based behavioral health agencies that serve more than 350,000 clients.

Throughout his tenure at the Coalition, Mr. Saperia was immersed in mental health public policy, government support of community mental health, the evolution of public managed care programs for people living with mental illness and the emerging area of employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. He oversaw the Coalition’s program of education advocacy and technical assistance to the diverse community-based behavioral health providers of New York City.

Mr. Saperia has been in the fields of community and government relations for over 20 years. Before coming to the Coalition, he was a consultant to several not-for-profit agencies on matters related to community siting of special care housing and on the development of local community advisory boards. During the mayoral administration of David Dinkins, he served as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Jewish Community Affairs. Mr. Saperia graduated with a BA in Politics from Brandeis University. He holds an MAT from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education where he was elected to Phi Delta Kappa, the National Honorary Education Society.