Kristie Brooks

Kristie Brooks, is a Licensed Professional Counselor and tribal member of the Choctaw Nation. She has served rural Oklahomans in a wide variety of ways for nearly 20 years. As a proven leader in the areas of mental health and substance use disorder programming, Ms. Brooks has served on numerous federal, state, and tribal committees. She is a strong advocate for the rights of under-resourced populations at the programmatic and national policy levels. Early in her career, Ms. Brooks worked in Child Welfare for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and served as a counselor for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Ms. Brooks' initial work as a therapist built a strong foundation that led to her promotion to Director of Behavioral Health Services for the Choctaw Nation, with over 200,000 tribal members. In this position, she oversaw behavioral health services for all treatment facilities and mental health clinics in the 10 counties of the Reservation. In her Behavioral Health leadership role, Ms. Brooks was instrumental in the implementation of new programs and services that provided benefits to Native Americans throughout the State of Oklahoma. Ms. Brooks also pursued and attained funding from 13 federal grants from agencies such as Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Indian Health Service (IHS), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and National Institutes of Health (NIH). This funding contributed to the launch of programs that undeniably improved the access and quality of mental and substance use disorder services in the CNO Reservation.

As a result of her continued commitment to the Tribe, Ms. Brooks was invited to sit on the Leadership Board for the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority (CNHSA). She was also recognized for her dedicated service through two distinguished awards in 2018: the Oklahoma City Area Indian Health Service Area Director's Superior Management award from IHS, and the Local Impact Award from the National Indian Health Board.

Ms. Brooks received her B.A. and M.S. in Human Services Counseling from East Central University in Oklahoma. She is Certified as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Professional Counseling Supervisor.