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The Iris Alliance Fund hosted its Fifth Annual Gala fundraiser on September 20, 2006 at the Carnelian Room of San Francisco's Bank of America building. This event featured returning keynote speaker Tipper Gore and honoree Patti Chang of The Women's Foundation of California. Director of Communications at Kaiser Permanente, Research Division and Former KRON-4 News Health Producer Kevin McCormack served as emcee.

That same day, the Iris Alliance Fund convened its annual meeting of the National Leadership Council. This year's National Leadership Council meeting and gala looked at mental health and gender, with a focus on postpartum depression. The meeting featured the release of the Iris Alliance Fund’s new opinion poll of 1000 California parents about postpartum depression. The study found that 52% of respondents either experienced postpartum depression, or knew someone who had. At the same time, 36% said would they would likely do nothing and wait for the symptoms to pass if they or their partner were suffering from PPD.

Mental health experts including Dr. Steve Mayberg, Director of the California Department of Mental Health, Dr. Pec Indman of Postpartum Support International, and Dr. Amy Heneghan, Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine responded to the poll, sharing their insight about postpartum depression’s impact on children and families and their recommendations for addressing this devastating mental illness. The poll was featured on ABC and CBS television news affiliates in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Iris Alliance Fund will produce a report of the poll in November 2006.

View the Press Release and poll presentation (654K pdf file).

Link to the KGO-TV (ABC San Francisco Bay Area affiliate) Story with Video - "First of its Kind Postpartum Depression Study" by Carolyn Tyler.

Go to Postpartum Depression Links and Resources

	Keynote Speaker Tipper Gore
	Master of Ceremonies Kevin McCormack
	Iris Alliance Fund Founder Mary Hayashi
	A view from the Iris Alliance Fund dinner at the Carnelian Room.
	Iris Alliance Fund dinner at the Carnelian Room.
	Mary Hayashi and special guest Darrell Steinberg, a 2005 Iris Alliance Fund Honoree.
	Leadership Awardee Patti Chang with Dian Harrison, CEO of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, and Cloey Hewlett, Vice Chair of The Women's Foundation.
	Keynote Speaker Tipper Gore.
	Mary Hayashi, Darrell Steinberg, John Buck, CEO of Turning Point Community Programs, and Steve Mayberg, Director of the CA Dept. of Mental Health.
	Past President of the American Psychiatric Association Dr. Marcia Kraft Goin at the Iris Alliance Fund Fifth Annual Meeting
	Dr. Steve Mayberg comments on the Iris Alliance Fund poll on postpartum depression.
	Pediatrician Dr. Amy Heneghan with Dr. Iris Litt, Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Stanford.
	Pat Loomes, Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Alameda County, and Dian Harrison, CEO of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate.
	Dr. Marye Thomas, Director of Alameda County Behavioral Health Services.
	Participants at the Iris Alliance Fund Fifth Annual Meeting.