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So Malmon, a 1999 graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, established Active Minds to raise awareness of mental illness on college campuses and encourage students who need help to get it.

For her work, Malmon was given the first Montgomery County Public Schools Distinguished Alumni Award from the Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education, a nonprofit that links business involvement to K-12 education.

‘‘Alison is a perfect nominee in that she had a rich and diverse MCPS education and took that and did so much with it,” said Mark Bernstein, director of programs at MCBRE.

The group chose Malmon, 25, from about 20 other nominees, who included a governor and a police chief, for the first Distinguished Alumni Award.

She was recognized because of the way she drew upon her strong educational background, communication skills and personal values as a way to use a personal tragedy to help others.

In 2000, her older brother Brian, committed suicide after suffering from schizoaffective disorder, a rare disease that is a combination of schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as depression.

Brian Malmon suffered in silence for three years while a student at Columbia College in New York. He did not tell his family or friends what he was going through. He eventually came home to Potomac for treatment but ended his life 18 months later at the age of 22.

After her brother’s death, Alison Malmon began to wonder why there wasn’t some type of organization on his college campus to help him deal with mental illness.

‘‘He did not tell us anything that was wrong,” Malmon said. ‘‘When he died I recognized that the silence on college campuses makes it so students who are suffering aren’t encouraged to seek help.”

Malmon knew that there was a huge need for an organization to lighten the stigma associated with mental illness and to open up a dialogue.

‘‘I started this group because nobody else had and it seemed ridiculous that nobody else had,” Malmon said.

It is estimated that more than 27 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have a diagnosable mental disorder, according to the National Institute on Mental Health.

‘‘She decided she didn’t want college students to go through what her brother went through,” said Malmon’s mother, Joanne Milobsky. ‘‘I know the quality of what she has done is so extraordinary.”

In 2001, Malmon founded the first chapter of Active Minds at her school, the University of Pennsylvania.

The nonprofit is dedicated to raising awareness among peers and helping those who need help get it. Chapters hold panel discussions, flier campaigns, movie screenings and stomp out stigma runs. It is now based in Washington, D.C.

‘‘When I look at all the things that have happened in her life and in our lives and what she’s done to turn it around, I think she’s made such a difference and I think she deserves an award that would acknowledge that difference,” said Milobsky, who nominated her daughter for the award.

Now there are 65 Active Minds chapters around the country and Malmon’s full-time job is executive director of the organization.

She not only manages the relationships the organization has with other mental health organizations but also gives speeches about the organization at college campuses around the country.

People come up to her all the time to say that having a group like Active Minds on campus has changed their lives, Malmon said.

‘‘Students just tell us what the power is; being an advocate, not to just sit by,” Malmon said. ‘‘It’s difficult to stand up and say you have a mental health issue; it’s not an easy issue to claim ownership of.”

The roundtable gives other awards to people who work within the schools, including a teacher of the year award and recognition for volunteers and administrators.

But members noticed a gap. No award existed for someone who is a product of all of the teachers, administrators and volunteers who work together in Montgomery County Public Schools.

So the group established a six-person committee of business and school representatives to choose an outstanding alumnus.

‘‘The Distinguished Alumni Award is the first award that is recognizing someone who is a graduate of the system that’s done great things,” Bernstein said.

The committee wanted to set the bar high by giving the first honor to Malmon.

‘‘I think the mental health angle resonated,” said Jane Kubasik, executive director for the roundtable. ‘‘It was certainly very stunning.”

Malmon will be presented with a plaque on April 26 in front of about 700 people at the MCBRE Champions for Children Awards Gala.

‘‘It’s quite an honor to be able to represent all of the distinguished alumni of Montgomery County, to be able to recognize my brother and his life and to know that Montgomery County schools is supportive of the mental health of its students,” Malmon said.