Adrienne Griffen, MPP

Advocacy & Community Chair

Adrienne Griffen, MPP, is the founding Executive Director of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (mmhla.org), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to national advocacy for the mental health of childbearing women in the United States.  MMHLA advocates for universal education, screening, referral, and treatment of postpartum depression and related maternal mental health challenges.

Adrienne is also the founder of Postpartum Support Virginia (postpartumva.org), which she started to fill a gap in services: when she experienced postpartum depression and anxiety in 2002, it took almost six months to find the help she needed.  Under Adrienne’s leadership, PSVa grew into a statewide network of support groups and maternal mental health coalitions which have helped thousands of new mothers.  For her efforts, Adrienne was selected as the Peer Specialist of the Year by the National Council for Behavioral Health (January 2016) and a Woman of Vision by Arlington County’s Commission on the Status of Women (June 2018). 

Adrienne graduated from the US Naval Academy and has a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Her early career included military and federal government service at the White House, Pentagon, and IRS.   Adrienne lives in Arlington VA with her husband and three children who are in high school and college.