Dena Ali is a Battalion Chief with the Raleigh (NC) Fire Department, where she has worked her way up the ranks. She also serves as the program manager of Behavioral Health for the First Responder Center for Excellence. Ali holds a degree from North Carolina State University and an MPA from the University of North Carolina—Pembroke, where her research focused on firefighter suicide. She is an Executive Fire Officer Program graduate through the National Fire Academy.

Dena Ali has been on a steadfast mission to kill the stigma of mental health in first responders. Dena has dealt with personal struggles and has come out on top. Dena has been inspired to share her journey with mental health with her book "Hope out of Darkness".  The book debunks common mental health myths and highlights various resources for support and treatment, offering strategies to build resilience through social support, effective leadership, mindfulness, proper sleep, and holistic approaches such as play and gratitude.

Dena has a great sense of humor and has a real-world approach of putting her message into perspective. Dena has done her homework on mental health, and it shows that she cares about helping others. I hope you enjoy her no BS way of telling it how it is and her sense of humor that she brings to the conversation. Thank you for all that you do and that you continue to do to help others find light in the darkest of times.