Carlton Whitmore is a consumer/survivor and Director at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Consumer Affairs, responsible for assuring that the voices of mental health, developmental disabilities, and chemical dependency consumers are heard at all levels of city government. Mr. Whitmore’s primary function in this role is to support recovery and advocacy activities for the city’s consumers and to ensure consumer perspectives are included in all areas of system planning.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Whitmore was a supervisor at Goodwill Industries’ Peer Advocacy Leadership program, a consumer-run mental health program where people living successfully with psychiatric disabilities assist others living with mental illness. His responsibilities there included providing support for consumers reentering the workplace. Over the years he has facilitated groups on both recovery and advocacy for the community. His peer perspective has provided him with a unique opportunity to identify and implement effective supports to promote and sustain individual recovery. In both his personal and professional capacities, he has been an inspiration to countless other consumers/survivors and has helped foster a new generation of peer specialists.
Mr. Whitmore is a past recipient of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services Brendan Nugent Award and a 2012 recipient of the NYC Coalition for Behavioral Health Leadership Award for inspiring consumer leadership and promoting the empowerment of New Yorkers with psychiatric disabilities.