Published on February 26, 2026

Announcing IDHA’s New Executive Director

A Letter from IDHA’s Board of Directors

Dear IDHA Community,

We are excited to announce that Jacks McNamara has joined the Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA) as our next Executive Director!

Jacks brings more than two decades of leadership at the forefront of transformative mental health. They are a facilitator, educator, writer, activist, and trauma healing practitioner whose work has helped shape the landscape of peer support and radical mental health internationally. In 2002, Jacks co-founded The Icarus Project (now known as the Fireweed Collective), an influential mutual aid network and participatory community that has supported countless people in navigating mental health experiences outside of pathologizing and coercive frameworks.

As a trauma survivor with extensive lived experience, Jacks has facilitated support groups, trained practitioners, and accompanied individuals and communities in healing work rooted in dignity, interdependence, and collective care. Prior to joining IDHA, they spent more than a decade in private practice, working primarily with queer and trans survivors. Jacks is a co-author of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness, and their writing has appeared in publications including the Mad Studies Reader, We’ve Been Too Patient, Mad in America, and Stone of Madness. Their life and work are also featured in the documentary Crooked Beauty.

Jacks joins IDHA at a meaningful moment in our evolution. As we continue to deepen our programs and strengthen our organizational foundation, they bring a rare combination of lived experience, movement lineage, and leadership that aligns closely with our mission. Their longstanding commitment to creativity, polyphony, and community-based alternatives reflects the values that have guided IDHA since our founding over a decade ago.

We also want to express our profound gratitude to outgoing Executive Director Jessie Roth, who guided IDHA through a period of extraordinary growth and transformation over the past seven years – from a grassroots project into a thriving training institute. In her letter announcing this leadership transition last year, Jessie reflected on her journey with IDHA and her commitment to supporting its next chapter. She is now supporting a thoughtful handover process with Jacks, and we remain deeply appreciative of her vision, care, and dedication.

We can’t wait to support Jacks in stewarding IDHA’s next chapter. We look forward to continuing this work together – alongside our staff, members, faculty, partners, and wider community – as we build toward a more just and liberatory future for mental health.

Please join us in welcoming Jacks to IDHA!

Sincerely,
The IDHA Board of Directors