Wizdom Powell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.

Dr. Wizdom Powell is a visionary leader at the nexus of mental and behavioral health, education, advocacy, and multi-sectoral community programming. As the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Unified Youth, she brings over two decades of experience driving systemic change through data-driven policy action, place-based interventions, and rigorous impact measurement.

A tenured professor and nationally recognized thought leader, Dr. Powell has shaped national mental health policy, led groundbreaking public-private partnerships, and worked globally to advance equity-driven solutions that create measurable, lasting change across all facets of population health. Dr. Powell received a Ph.D. and M.S. in Clinical Psychology and M.P.H. from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and has held tenured professorships at some of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions including the University of Connecticut where she served as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Health Disparities Institute and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she served as Research Associate Professor in the Department of Behavior Health and Associate Director of the Center for Health Equity Research in the Department of Social Medicine.

Most recently, Wizdom was the Chief Purpose Officer at Headspace where she oversaw the organization’s Social Impact, Legislative Affairs, and Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) portfolios as well as company-wide organizational culture and belonging efforts. During her time at Headspace, she spearheaded an innovative partnership with the City of Hartford, Connecticut that promoted a citywide culture of mindfulness and mental health through resource provision, evaluation, and training.

Dr. Powell has deep expertise with localized population health interventions and place-based mental health research, programming, and advocacy across the country. Dr. Powell has been called on to provide hearings and testimony for bipartisan committees driving national policy around mental health. Dr. Powell has also held a number of prestigious fellowships with leading institutions, and her work has spanned the globe. Dr. Powell has also served as a brand strategist for corporations, non-profits, and academic institutions.