Susan L. Stearns has been named the new executive director of NAMI New Hampshire (National Alliance on Mental Illness), the fifth executive director in the statewide nonprofit’s 40-year history.

Stearns, deputy director of NAMI NH since 2013, succeeds Ken Norton, who served in the organization’s top job for nearly a decade. In 2021, NAMI NH provided support, education and advocacy for more than 40,000 Granite Staters affected by mental illness and suicide, the organization said.