Kacie Kelly has 20 years of experience with leading innovation in mental health care and translating it into policy and practice. In her role, as Chief Innovation Officer at the Institute, she focuses on redesigning detection and treatment of mental health conditions in health systems and on creating a culture of innovation across the Institute in increase access to high quality behavioral healthcare across Texas and nationally. In addition, she works to harness the power of public and private partnerships to reform payment models that advance best practice in mental health treatment and care delivery and identifies strategies to integrate data-driven technological solutions into the care system broadly.
Prior to joining the Institute, Kacie served as the Director for Health & Wellbeing at the George W. Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative where she advanced innovative outcome-based solutions for mental and brain health challenges through partnerships, collaboration, and alignment among key national and international stakeholders, including the Bush Institute’s Veteran Wellness Alliance and the Stand To Health & Wellbeing Task Force. Prior to that, Kacie spent 15 years leading ground-breaking mental health and suicide prevention initiatives at the Department of Veterans Affairs. During that time, she established public-private partnership programs, led national dissemination of evidence-based care models to enhance provider proficiencies, and directed outreach efforts to reduce stigmas associated with seeking mental health care and promote military culture competencies. One of her most impressive accomplishments was getting every VA hospital and clinic in the nation to adopt standardized, evidence-based protocols for the treatment of post-traumatic stress. Kacie earned her Master of Health Sciences at Louisiana State University and has a Graduate Certificate in Women in Public Policy and Politics from the University of Massachusetts – Boston