Cherene Caraco is a nationally recognized innovator, trauma survivor, and social entrepreneur redefining what community-based mental health systems look like when they are effective, led by people impacted, and designed for wellness and healing. Based in Charlotte, she is the Founder and CEO of Promise Resource Network, a peer-led nonprofit operating more than 26 programs, including a statewide 24/7 Peer Warmline that receives more than 60,000 calls annually, Recovery Hubs, 24/7 peer-run alternatives to hospitalization (respites), Recovery Cafes, harm reduction, and workforce development initiatives rooted in lived experience.
Cherene is known for her bold, human-first approach to behavioral health transformation. She challenges stigma, reimagines crisis response, and advocates for peer-led, voluntary, non-coercive services that reduce hospitalization, incarceration, and systemic harm. Her work has positioned PRN as a national demonstration site for peer-led innovation and recovery-oriented systems change.
Beyond her organizational leadership, Cherene is an emerging national thought leader, consultant, and keynote speaker. She advises nonprofits, state leaders, and managed care organizations on building scalable, trauma-informed workforce development systems, integrating peer support specialists, designing sustainable funding strategies, and incubating peer-run organizations to have impact and sustainability. Her work has earned numerous honors, including being named the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law’s 2021 Innovator of the Year.
At DRNC’s 2026 Disability Advocacy Conference, Cherene will join DRNC CEO Virginia Knowlton Marcus for a powerful plenary conversation grounded in this year’s theme, In This Together. In an era of shifting policies and heightened need, they will explore what it truly takes to move from crisis response to community-rooted solutions, and how advocates, leaders, and people with lived experience can collectively reshape systems to prioritize dignity, autonomy, and healing. This conversation will challenge, inspire, and call us into deeper partnership in the work ahead.
