Norma Brinkley is a native of Tennessee, born and raised on a farm in Antioch. She attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is an advocate for persons with mental illness. She worked on a research project at Vanderbilt/TMHCA, then as the first Peer Specialist on a Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) at a case management agency servicing persons diagnosed with severe mental illness. She is a member of the Tennessee Mental Health Consumer’s Association, and a certified Building Recovery of Individual Dreams and Goals Through Education and Support(BRIDGES) teacher.