Kelly Wagner

Kelly Wagner has over 25 years of experience designing and delivering technical assistance, training, and capacity building. A skilled public health professional trained in epidemiology, she has developed and led more than 10 national TA programs for federal awardees from various agencies including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and offices within the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Wagner has worked with community-based organizations, health centers, academic institutions, and state/local health agencies, reaching target audiences with unique and diverse public health needs across the lifespan. 

In her role as Senior Director, Wagner is responsible for staffing and solutions focused on developing and advancing human-centered and sustainable approaches to technical assistance and project delivery practices. She also continues to serve in senior roles on technical assistance projects. Wagner leads SAMHSA’s Achieving Behavioral Health Excellence initiative and serves as Principal Technical Adviser for HRSA’s Hemoglobinopathies National Coordinating Center (HNCC) which provides technical assistance and shared learning opportunities to 30 awardees in HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) programs to enhance and improve coordinated systems of SCD care. 

Prior to joining Abt, Wagner led a number of national TA and training projects focused on organizational and workforce development for programs supporting underserved communities. She led the:

• Minority Fellowship Program Coordinating Center, Minority AIDS Initiative Continuum of Care TA project, and the Behavioral Health and HIV Coordinated TA Center for SAMHSA;
• TA and Partnership Development Support for the Adolescent Health Programs and Title X Family Planning Program for the Office of Population Affairs; and
• HIV Training, Technical Assistance, and Collaboration Center for the Partnerships for Care Program for HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care.

Expertise

• Technical assistance and training
• Health service integration
• Behavioral health
• HIV/AIDS and infectious disease

Key Projects

• Project Director, Achieving Behavioral Health Excellence Project (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
• Principal Technical Advisor, Hemoglobinopathies National Coordinating Center (HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau)
• Strategic Plan Progress and Organizational Transformation Project (HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau)