Max De Pree Center for Leadership We develop flourishing organizations and communities through healthy leadership.

  Timothy Kelly Timothy Kelly photo
 

Fast Facts

  • Educated in philosophy (undergraduate), theology (master’s), and psychology (doctoral) – the latter at Vanderbilt University.

  • Senior executive experience in government, in academe, and in the private sector.

  • Travels regularly to China to provide teaching and consultation on mental health policy and care.

  • Currently serving on the Altadena Town Council and on the Pasadena Youth Development and Violence Prevention Committee.







About Tim

Timothy A. Kelly, PhD, is a principal at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership and serves as director of the De Pree Center Public Policy Institute. His primary focus is mental health treatment and policy both in the US and abroad, a topic that is often ignored yet critical for the well-being of individuals and their families. A secondary focus is the development and promotion of "principled centrism" as a way to overcome partisan extremism.

Mental Health Commissioner and Care Provider

Tim Kelly has been active as a mental health care provider for over 30 years, including launching and directing an outpatient clinic in Alexandria, Virginia.

 

He served as Virginia’s ninth Mental Health Commissioner, heading up an agency with over 10,000 employees and a budget of over $500M.  As Mental Health Commissioner he implemented much-needed reforms, such as instituting outcome measures for mental health services in order to improve quality of care.  He also shifted funds from unnecessary administrative overhead to innovative service delivery.

Executive Director for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission

Tim has served also as Executive Director for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, a Congressional and Presidential Commission that required close collaboration with congressional representatives and senators from both parties, as well as the White House.  The Commission’s report led to a national dialogue on the role of gambling in America, and slowed gambling expansion in many states. [Click for PDF of sample testimony on gambling policy.]

Faculty Member

Tim has been appointed to the faculty of several major universities, including Vanderbilt University, where he also received his doctorate.  He currently serves as Associate Professor of Psychology at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology.

Principal

As a principal of the De Pree Leadership Center, Tim is involved in individualized advisory services for executives, policymakers, and others in leadership positions.  This may include organization or program assessment, consultation, executive coaching, and creative problem-solving applied to complex challenges.  This service may also involve working with constituents or customers on behalf of the client.  We are skilled at helping others move from conflict to consensus.

Cross-Cultural Experience

Tim regularly travels to Shanghai and Beijing, where he teaches and trains mental health professionals and works with policymakers. He has lived abroad and thoroughly enjoys cultural diversity. An NPR interview captured some of Tim's work in Sichuan, China, which was devastated by an earthquake in May 2008. [Click to link to interview.]

Sample Publications

Tim has published and presented widely on an array of public policy issues through journals, books, newspaper articles, state and congressional hearings, and television interviews.  He has recently completed a book on national mental health reform for NYU Press.

 

On Mental Policy and Care
On Principled Centrism
 

 

Contact

Timothy A. Kelly, PhD, Director
De Pree Center Public Policy Institute
135 North Los Robles, Suite 620
Pasadena, CA 91101
Main office: (626) 578-6335

Direct: (626) 578-0918
Fax: (626) 792-3456
Email: tkelly@depree.org

 

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