Ripple Effect: Positive Change Around the Sound podcast episode 6
WHAT:
Episode #6: Healing Through Story with Makinie Fortino, Founder and CEO of Deconstructing the Mental Health System , Inc.
Presented by Mirror Stage, Ripple Effect: Positive Change Around the Sound amplifies the stories of local change-makers whose positive impact ripples across Puget Sound. Released monthly, each episode features a local change-maker working to build a better, more inclusive community—telling their story in their own words. Ripple Effect explores how the actions of a single individual ripple outward, shaping collective understanding. Every episode invites listeners to find out what brings our guests to this moment today, what drives and inspires them, and how to get involved.
WHO:
Makinie Fortino (she/her) is the Founder and President of DMHS: Deconstructing the Mental Health System, Inc. She identifies as Black and Afro-Caribbean American and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) who has been working in mental health for 10+ years. Makinie has worn many hats ranging from in-home counselor to case manager, vocational counselor, academic advisor/behavioral health counselor and in social services. Community-centered work is a passion of hers. She has also published two manuals to help build cultural competence and awareness in the mental health community.
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Episodes drop monthly on the fourth Wednesday
WHERE:
Episodes are available on the Mirror Stage web site, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms
ABOUT MIRROR STAGE
Originally founded in 1991, Mirror Stage is a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts company that believes the power of story and art holds the key to bringing people together in imagining and embodying a better future. We challenge assumptions, bias and prejudice, increasing equity and inclusion while encouraging more thoughtful reflection on today’s issues. Mirror Stage nurtures unique artistic voices, centering those who have been most oppressed by society’s inequitable systems and structures. Mirror Stage gets people talking, as well as thinking. Learn more about the history of Mirror Stage.
Mirror Stage gratefully acknowledges the support of 4Culture, Allen Family Philanthropies, ArtsWA, the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the EPS Fund, Humanities Washington, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Posner-Wallace Foundation.
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