About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Lisa Taliaferro,
Founder and President
Lisa Taliaferro's dedication to ensuring that individuals living with mental illness receive proper care instead of being criminalized is commendable. Her personal experience with her sons' involvement in the justice system while dealing with mental illness has further motivated her advocacy and support efforts. As a result, she founded Patients Not Prisoners in Florida to continue her mission of advocating, educating, and supporting this cause.
In order to ensure that their efforts are successful, Lisa developed this organization using the Measure CARE Model as an evaluation tool. Lisa along with concerned members of the community met for 14 weeks to discuss mental health and the judicial system. The Measure CARE Model focuses on creating sustainable change within communities by engaging community members and providing them with resources so they can advocate for themselves.
Lisa's educational background in Business Organizational Management from Bethel College has provided her with a strong foundation of skills necessary for establishing and running a nonprofit organization.Lisa retired from a 30 year career in Banking and Investment Management. She managed the Trading Department for an International Money Manager in San Diego,CA for 23 years, took a 8 year sabbatical to care for her son and then went on to manage a couple of Bank Financial Centers. During her career in finance Lisa owned two Womens Fitness Franchises for over 10 years. She also authored two books entitled, Bargain Beaters, A Guide to Saving Money.
Her diverse experiences and expertise have undoubtedly contributed to her ability to navigate the challenges of running Patients Not Prisoners effectively.
Now retired, Lisa enjoys participating in church activities and Bible study, going on cruises with her husband of 43 years, and spending quality time with her adult children and grandchildren. Patients Not Prisoners is a direct result of Lisa's personal experiences and her unwavering advocacy for her sons and the need for restorative treatment for the mentally ill. She is truly a "Mom on a Mission" and aims to bring about systemic change to prioritize compassionate care for individuals facing mental illness.
Our Board
Meme Styles
Vice President
Meme Styles, MEASURE | Founder and President and Vice President of Patients Not Prisoners.
In 2015, Meme Styles founded MEASURE to promote using evidence-based projects and tools to tell real-life stories behind the numbers. As a catalyst for systems changes, MEASURE has grown to a fully operational nonprofit social enterprise that provides free data support to Black and Brown-led organizations.
So far, the organization has provided thousands of free data support hours to Black and Brown-led organizations. They are also responsible for strategic partnerships with the University of Texas, Texas Southern University, and more to disrupt traditional research in exchange for BIPOC-led lived-experience protocols. Last year, Meme was named an MIT SOLVER for anti-racist technology in the United States and she has been awarded a fellowship by the Social Science Research Council.
Jameila "Meme" Styles was a past-Chairwoman of Miss Juneteenth, Austin Police Chief's Award of Excellence recipient, Austin 40 under 40 WINNER 2019, past-Chairwoman of African TV5 (AFTV5), and the DivInc Nonprofit Leader of the Year for 2021.
Mrs. Styles holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications, Masters Of Public Administration with a concentration on National Security, and a Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Cornell. Additionally, Mrs. Styles has been certified in Performance Measurement through George Washington University College of Professional Studies. Today, Mrs. Styles is pursuing a doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Liberty University.
She is also the wife of a US Veteran and the mother of four.
