Melanie Brown-Woofter

Melanie Brown-Woofter is currently the president/CEO of the Florida Behavioral Health Association (FBHA), a nonprofit organization representing community mental health and substance abuse treatment providers statewide. FBHA is a result of the consolidation of two long-standing respected organizations, the Florida Council for Community Mental Health and the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association. The FBHA’s members include a broad range of provider types, ranging from small specialty organizations to comprehensive treatment organizations with multiple locations within a geographic region. With over 70 provider members, the FBHA is the largest behavioral health association in Florida and is considered a thought leader for behavioral health policy and practice. The FBHA works closely with state partners including the Agency for Healthcare Administration/Medicaid, the Department of Children and Families and the Florida legislature and is the voice for both providers and their 250,000+ clients. Brown-Woofter is an active member of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, currently serving as chair of the public policy committee. Additionally, she serves on several state-level committees and was recently appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to his Re-Open Florida Task Force and to the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse. Before joining the FBHA, she held a variety of positions with the Agency for Health Care Administration including bureau chief of Medicaid managed care. Brown-Woofter holds a BSN from the University of Florida, attended the graduate program in nursing at University of Texas at Austin and has held numerous clinical positions in neuroscience in Florida and Texas.