Michelle Zabel, MSS

Executive Director of Innovations Institute and Associate Extension Professor

Innovations Institute

Michelle Zabel is associate extension professor and the founding director of Innovations Institute at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.

With more than 30 years of experience working in and advising child- and family-serving systems across the public and private sectors, she specializes in implementation science, service system design, sustainable financing, evidence-based and promising practices, tiered care coordination, residential redesign, and crisis response systems. Her work focuses on strengthening public systems that serve children, youth, young adults, and families through research-based, culturally responsive, and equitable approaches to systems transformation.

Ms. Zabel leads a nationally recognized institute that advances innovation in behavioral health and human service systems. Since founding Innovations Institute in 2005, she has built and guided a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 faculty and staff engaged in approximately 50 active contracts with federal, state, county, foundation, and private partners, totaling more than $15 million annually. Under her leadership, Innovations has developed nationally recognized expertise in systems design, crisis response systems, LGBTQ+ and early childhood populations, policy and financing, workforce development, and applied research and evaluation aimed at improving outcomes for children and families.

Ms. Zabel has served as Principal Investigator and project director on numerous state and federally funded initiatives, including multiple CMS-funded demonstration grants and a $34 million SAMHSA National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health, supported through a multi-year task order with 13 subcontractors and more than 50 consultants. Across these initiatives, she has led the development and implementation of continuous quality improvement (CQI) systems using standardized tools and processes to assess technical assistance effectiveness and support system-level change.

Evaluation findings from these efforts have demonstrated improvements in implementation outcomes, including strengthened cross-system partnerships, expanded use of evidence-based practices, increased service access, and innovative financing strategies.

Her national leadership includes service as a subject matter expert to the National Association for State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), membership on SAMHSA’s Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch Council, and participation on expert panels focused on mental health policy and system design across the developmental spectrum. She continues to serve on numerous national and state advisory boards and committees focused on behavioral health system transformation.

Ms. Zabel currently serves as Principal Investigator on multiple national initiatives, including SAMHSA-funded projects supported through the Technical Assistance Coalition and the Transformation Transfer Initiative, the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics Expansion Grants (in partnership with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing), and the Children’s Crisis Continuum Project. Her leadership continues to advance scalable, evidence-informed approaches to improving behavioral health systems and outcomes for children, youth, and families.

In 2022, she received the Mental Health Association of Maryland’s Paula Hamburger Child Advocacy Award in recognition of her contributions to child advocacy and system transformation.

Ms. Zabel earned her Master of Social Service (MSS) in the clinical track from Bryn Mawr College and her BA from Eastern University.