Mabel Bongmba, MD is the inaugural Associate Medical Director of Collaborative Care for Kaiser Permanente Washington. Dr. Bongmba’s interest in this care model stems from her experiences in public mental health as a medical trainee; the necessity of this work has been reinforced by the crippling shortage of mental health professionals in Washington and throughout our country. In five years, she hopes that her participation in the fellowship program will support the implementation of a high quality Collaborative Care program that will herald the successful expansion of this model of care across dozens of clinics. This will help improve access to specialty mental health services for the severely mentally ill. Dr. Bongmba has served as a psychiatric consultant and diversity, equity, and inclusion advisor. She has continuously provided direct care to adult patients at mental health specialty clinics over the past decade.