Leah Dyson

Leah Dyson brings over two decades of experience within human services and the pursuit of health, social, and justice equity as a strategic planner, organizational and business developer, partnership builder, and facilitator. She has expertise in behavioral health, direct community programming, and support to priority populations. Dyson has worked on technical assistance, implementation, capacity-building, organizational transformation, and qualitative evaluation efforts with a number federal agencies and partners, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Veterans Health Administration (VHA). She also has worked within academic, nonprofit, and local government spaces, implementing informed and practical responses to organizational and community needs and bridging diverse stakeholder perspectives.

Dyson serves as Abt’s Client Account Lead for SAMHSA and the public health portfolio, expanding projects’ focus, reach, and impact. She supports evidence-based research centers and state technical assistance improvement projects, as well as Abt’s various internal behavioral health and collaboration efforts.

In her previous work as an independent consultant and with organizations such as Altarum, Dyson led and supported multiple organizational and systems development and capacity-building activities. They included SAMHSA’s Target Capacity Expansion For Peer-To-Peer Programs project, Recovery Community Services Program-Statewide Networks project, and the Behavioral Health And HIV/AIDS Technical Assistance Center. They involved upwards of 100 community organization grantees, community partners, and both local and federal government representatives. Dyson also supported high profile strategic planning, organizational transformation, and workforce development projects with HRSA’s Maternal And Child Health Bureau and evidence-based quality improvement with the VHA’s Women Veterans program. She worked directly with over 20 VA medical centers to improve access to competent and sensitive medical and behavioral health services for women veterans.

Through her technical assistance work, Dyson has designed and facilitated numerous learning collaboratives and communities of practice and developed and facilitated upwards of 100 in-person and virtual training sessions on organizational development, program sustainability, partnership strategies, and approaches to inclusively and collaboratively building capacity and impact.

Expertise

• Strategic Planning
• Organizational Development
• Stakeholder and Partner Engagement
• Technical Assistance and Implementation
• Social and Structural Determinants of Health