Jessica Hawkins leads Healthy Minds’ efforts to transform behavioral health practice in Oklahoma. Before joining the Healthy Minds staff, Jessica was chief operations officer at the United Way of Central Oklahoma. Prior to joining the United Way team, Jessica served as senior director of prevention services for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. In this leadership role, she oversaw the state’s prevention service system, including the allocation of private, state, and federal funds to hundreds of community-based organizations. She also designed and implemented large-scale initiatives for the prevention of substance use, suicide, overdose, and mental health promotion.

Before her 16-year tenure in state government, she served as manager of mission integration and youth programs with the California division of the American Cancer Society. Jessica received her Master of Arts in administrative leadership from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from California State University.