Kelly English, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor for Behavioral Health Policy and Assistant Extension Professor
Innovations Institute
Kelly English, Ph.D., is Senior Advisor for Behavioral Health Policy at Innovations Institute and assistant extension professor. Dr. English specializes in the design and implementation of public behavioral health systems for children and families.
Her research interests include policy translation to practice, public behavioral health systems for children and families, executive leadership and large-scale reform initiatives, workforce development and capacity-building, and managed care and sustainable financing strategies.
With over 25 years of experience, she provides expert technical assistance and consultation to government agencies and private organizations on complex issues including managed care, sustainable financing, and system-wide quality improvement. She also serves as an independent reviewer for a U.S. Department of Justice Settlement Agreement, monitoring ADA compliance for children’s behavioral health services in Nevada.
Previously, Dr. English served as the Deputy Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, where she provided executive leadership for a $118 million service system and led large-scale behavioral health reform initiatives. She is also a dedicated educator and trainer, having directed the Children’s Behavioral Health Knowledge Center and served as an adjunct instructor at Boston College and the University of South Florida. Throughout her career, she has excelled at translating high-level policy into practical, scalable solutions through workforce development and collaborative stakeholder engagement.
Dr. English is the author of seven peer-reviewed journal articles, which appear in Frontiers in Psychiatry, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Administration & Policy in Mental Health. She’s delivered presentations throughout the U.S. and Canada on “Using Family Journey Maps as a Visual Tool to Advocate for Youth with Complex Needs,” “Supervisory Strategies in In-Home Therapy,” and “Medicaid: Tools and Information for the Fight Against Homelessness,” and other topics.
She holds a MSW and Ph.D. from the Boston College School of Social Work.
