Clarence Jordan

Clarence Jordan is Vice President of Wellness & Recovery for Beacon Health Options. In this role, he provides strategic direction and leadership for the company’s national Wellness & Recovery program. He is responsible for various initiatives to operationalize Beacon Health Options’ commitment to recovery-based principles in the delivery of behavioral health services.

Jordan is a former naval officer, and his recovery journey is chronicled in National Council Magazine’s “50 Years, 50 Stories of Recovery” special issue to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Community Mental Health Act.

Clarence Jordan has deep roots in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has served multiple terms on its National Board of Directors. Prior to that, as the NAMI Tennessee state office Director of Multicultural Outreach Initiative, he developed and wrote “A Family Guide to Mental Health: What You Need to Know.” His work led to NAMI Tennessee receiving the coveted National Multicultural Outreach Award. In 2009 he conducted a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. sponsored by NAMI on the experience of military families involved in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In 2010, he provided testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on the mental health needs of veterans and their families.

Clarence Jordan received the Consumer Leadership Award at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) 2010 National Voice Awards, as well as its 2012 VOICE Awards Fellowship. In 2014, the National Council for Behavioral Health named him its Peer Specialist of the Year.

In 2015 Clarence served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on the Science of changing Behavioral Health Social Norms Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences Education. The Committee conducted a yearlong study on stigma as it occurs Nationally and in several western societies. The results of the study were published in 2016, “Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders.”