2025-2026 Award Recipients
NBHP’s WREDI Program Awards 10 Scholarships to Support Behavioral Health Students
In Fall 2025, the Network of Behavioral Health Providers’ Workforce Recruitment, Education, and Development Initiative (WREDI) program awarded scholarships to 10 outstanding students from 3 different schools through its Marion T. Coleman Pathways Scholarship. These scholarships are designed to support students from diverse backgrounds who are pursuing behavioral health careers in psychiatric/nursing, social work, psychology, and counseling.
From a competitive pool of 43 applicants - the most applicants we have seen to date - the selected scholars represent a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Notably, 4 of 10 of the scholarship recipients are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, enhancing their ability to serve and connect with diverse communities. Additionally, 7 of 10 recipients are first-generation college students, reflecting the program’s commitment to expanding access to education and career development for underserved populations.
These scholarship recipients are actively engaged in internship and practicum placements at some of Houston’s leading behavioral health organizations, including NBHP members such as Communities in Schools, Houston Health Department, Northwest Assistance Ministries, Alexander Jewish Family Services, West Oaks Hospital, The Council on Recovery, and Mental Health America. Other practicum placements include YMCA International, DeBakey VA Hospital, and Cristo Rey School. Their roles in these organizations allow them to apply their studies in real-world settings, gaining invaluable experience to support their professional development.
The 2025 WREDI scholarship cohort each shared deeply personal ties to and experiences with behavioral health that have shaped who they have become as people and professionals; their interest and passion for entering into the field shone through each application, underscoring the resilience and commitment these students bring to the behavioral health field.
NBHP is proud to support these promising future behavioral health professionals who are dedicated to addressing critical mental health and substance use needs across our communities. The WREDI program is committed to fostering a robust and inclusive behavioral health workforce that reflects and serves our diverse society.
In Fall 2025, the Network of Behavioral Health Providers’ Workforce Recruitment, Education, and Development Initiative (WREDI) program awarded scholarships to 10 outstanding students from 3 different schools through its Marion T. Coleman Pathways Scholarship. These scholarships are designed to support students from diverse backgrounds who are pursuing behavioral health careers in psychiatric/nursing, social work, psychology, and counseling.
From a competitive pool of 43 applicants - the most applicants we have seen to date - the selected scholars represent a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Notably, 4 of 10 of the scholarship recipients are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, enhancing their ability to serve and connect with diverse communities. Additionally, 7 of 10 recipients are first-generation college students, reflecting the program’s commitment to expanding access to education and career development for underserved populations.
These scholarship recipients are actively engaged in internship and practicum placements at some of Houston’s leading behavioral health organizations, including NBHP members such as Communities in Schools, Houston Health Department, Northwest Assistance Ministries, Alexander Jewish Family Services, West Oaks Hospital, The Council on Recovery, and Mental Health America. Other practicum placements include YMCA International, DeBakey VA Hospital, and Cristo Rey School. Their roles in these organizations allow them to apply their studies in real-world settings, gaining invaluable experience to support their professional development.
The 2025 WREDI scholarship cohort each shared deeply personal ties to and experiences with behavioral health that have shaped who they have become as people and professionals; their interest and passion for entering into the field shone through each application, underscoring the resilience and commitment these students bring to the behavioral health field.
NBHP is proud to support these promising future behavioral health professionals who are dedicated to addressing critical mental health and substance use needs across our communities. The WREDI program is committed to fostering a robust and inclusive behavioral health workforce that reflects and serves our diverse society.
Meet NBHP's 2025-2026 Marion T. Coleman Scholarship Recipients:
The Marion T. Coleman Behavioral Health Pathways Scholarship was named after NBHP's former Executive Director, Marion T. Coleman, Ph.D., who had a passion for building the behavioral health workforce of tomorrow. The goal of the program is to ensure that students working toward licensure in a behavioral health field are able to graduate and practice within their field in the greater Houston area.
Thank you to Harris County (ARPA) and The George Foundation for sponsoring our Coleman Pathways scholarship program.
Thank you to Harris County (ARPA) and The George Foundation for sponsoring our Coleman Pathways scholarship program.
Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients
Mary Anne Romero
Mary Anne is a senior studying social work at the University of Houston-Downtown, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. Mary is multilingual, speaking English and Spanish fluently. Her practicum placement is with YMCA International Services, focusing on human trafficking. She is a first generation college student. She is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, fighting human trafficking, and mental health and is looking forward to making a difference in this space, with a special focus and interest in the Latinx community.
Lesli Puente
Leslie is a senior studying social work at the University of Houston-Downtown, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. Lesli is multilingual, speaking English and Spanish fluently. Her practicum placement is with Communities in Schools-Houston, an NBHP member organization. She is a first generation college student. She is passionate about dismantling stigma in mental health, specifically in the Latinx/Mexican cultural space. Her aspirations include becoming an LPC or LCSW, to advocate for policies to improve behavioral health services, and to work with youth and families.
Jada Cyprian
Jada is a senior studying social work at Texas Southern University, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. Her practicum placement is with Houston Health Department, an NBHP member organization. She is a first generation college student. She is passionate about developing underserved and under-resourced youth and families, as well as elderly populations who face barriers accessing behavioral health services. She plans to utilize her lived experience to best help vulnerable populations.
Jasmine Wogbe-Young
Jasmine is a senior studying social work at Texas Southern University, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. She is a first generation college student. Her practicum placement is with the Network of Behavioral Health Providers and Northwest Assistance Ministries (NBHP Member Organization). Jasmine plans to utilize her lived experience with behavioral health challenges to help others, and inspire resilience in vulnerable communities largely in part due to her own incredible story of resilience in her life. She is passionate about children's and women's mental health, as well as behavioral health of families.
Jakiya Brown
Jakiya is a senior studying social work at Texas Southern University, anticipated graduation date of May 2026. She is a first generation college student. She is completing her practicum at the Network of Behavioral Health Providers, and Alexander Jewish Family Services (NBHP Member Organization). Jakiya has been motivated to pursue a career in behavioral health due largely in part to her own lived experience with mental health challenges, as well as her upbringing in a large metropolitan city and all of the many behavioral health challenges she was exposed to her in her community. She plans to focus on resolving trauma in her future clients, and has claimed that working in behavioral health will fill what she believes to be her life purpose.
Graduate Scholarship Recipients
Anusha Sathyanarayanan
Anusha is a senior at University of Houston, finishing up a Master's degree in social work with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. She is multilingual: fluent in Tamil and Telugu, as well as English. She is a first generation college student. Anusha is completing her practicum placement at West Oaks Hospital, an NBHP member organization. She plans to help destigmatize mental health services, especially within her own South Asian culture. Anusha expressed that developing a career focused on resolving trauma is related to her life purpose. She plans to become a LCSW, specializing in resolving deep, life-long trauma in adults who are in hospitals: trauma units, psychiatric units, and the like. Her future aspirations include opening her own trauma recovery center in Houston, to help the most vulnerable populations heal - including formerly incarcerated adults, undocumented individuals, low-income families, and the like.
Toyo Carter
Toyo is a senior in the Master's program of social work at the University of Houston, preparing to take his licensure exam in May 2026 after graduating. Toyo's practicum placement is at The Council on Recovery, an NBHP member organization, and has also worked at Houston Recovery Center, another NBHP member organization. His initial interests in anthropology and forensics shifted into clinical social work after a personal experience that deeply shaped him. In his own words, the cultural neutrality of anthropology led him to being attracted to social work and its emphasis on social justice and advocacy for vulnerable populations; he has plans to provide CBT-focused counseling services for those suffering with co-occurring disorders, specifically the LGBTQ+ population and Black community.
Jasmine McCloud
Jasmine is a senior in the Master's of social work program at the University of Houston, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2026. She is a first generation college student. Her practicum placement is at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston. Her interest in mental health blossomed in part due to her experiences in childhood: witnessing many people she loves growing up in foster care, and the unique and challenging experiences that came with that. She has work experience in family reunification, grief and chronic illness, and other arenas of behavioral health. She plans to become a LCSW, with a special interest in working with pregnant mothers, Black men and boys, and other marginalized populations.
Rachel Thomas
Rachel is a senior in the Master's of social work program at the University of Houston. She is multilingual: fluent in Malayalam and English. She plans to graduate in August 2026. Her practicum placement is at Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston. She is passionate about creating change in behavioral health, especially in the cultural space of the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. She plans to become a social worker to help create change in the narrative of mental health: how we think about mental health, how we talk about mental health, and how we convince society that is is ok to talk about mental health, and it is ok and great to make change in this space of health.
Ryah Landry
Ryah is a senior in the Master's of social work program at the University of Houston. She is completing her practicum placement at Mental Health America of Greater Houston, an NBHP member organization. Ryah was raised by a parent who pursued social work, which inspired her to pursue the field on her own accord. She plans to pass her licensure exam in July of 2026 after graduating, and begin work in a school or clinical setting, where she can support children and adolescents by creating a safe space for them; at school, in their communities, and beyond.
Network of Behavioral Health Providers
9401 Southwest Freeway Suite #1242
Houston, TX 77074
Phone: 713-970-3410
9401 Southwest Freeway Suite #1242
Houston, TX 77074
Phone: 713-970-3410