Kimberly Konkel serves as Senior Public Health Advisor at SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services. She leads homelessness programs and HIV/AIDS initiatives while specializing in trauma-informed care and community-based health interventions across diverse populations.
When major public health challenges arise, someone needs to bridge the gap between scientific research and community action. That person is often Kimberly Konkel, a senior public health advisor who has spent over two decades connecting evidence-based practices with the people who need them most.
Her work touches some of America’s most pressing health crises: homelessness, mental illness, addiction, and trauma. But what makes her approach different is how she works. She doesn’t just create programs from an office. She partners with faith leaders, community organizations, and people with lived experience to build solutions that actually work.
This article explores who Kimberly Konkel is, what she does, and why her work matters to public health today.
Who Is Kimberly Konkel?
Kimberly Konkel currently works as a Senior Public Health Advisor for the Center for Mental Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Master of Social Work from Brigham Young University. In 2020, she enrolled in the Executive Doctor of Public Health program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to strengthen her systems thinking and research capabilities.
Her professional profile includes:
- Over 20 years of leadership in public health
- Certified Yoga Instructor
- Mental Health First Aid Trainer
- Internationally recognized expert in childhood trauma
- 87 academic citations according to research databases
Current Role at SAMHSA
Leading Critical Health Programs
At SAMHSA, Konkel directs programming that addresses some of society’s most vulnerable populations. She oversees the Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Program and manages the Center for Mental Health Services’ HIV/AIDS portfolio.
These aren’t just administrative positions. They involve:
- Coordinating multi-agency responses
- Allocating federal resources
- Developing training materials for frontline workers
- Building partnerships across government and community sectors
According to SAMHSA’s organizational structure, the Center for Mental Health Services provides federal leadership to improve mental health services. Konkel’s role places her at the center of this mission.
Bridging Science and Community
One phrase appears repeatedly in descriptions of her work: “marrying the intelligence of science with the wisdom of communities.” This isn’t marketing language. It describes her actual approach.
She takes research findings and translates them into tools that non-scientists can use. Faith leaders, community health workers, and peer support specialists need practical guidance, not academic papers. Konkel creates that guidance.
17 Years at Faith-Based Health Partnerships
Before joining SAMHSA, Konkel spent 17 years as Deputy Director for Health at the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This role shaped her entire career approach.
Why Faith Communities Matter in Public Health
Faith organizations reach populations that traditional healthcare often misses. They have:
- Established trust in their communities
- Regular contact with members
- Physical spaces for programs
- Volunteer networks
- Cultural understanding
Konkel recognized these assets and worked to mobilize them for public health goals.
During her tenure, she:
- Created the Health Ministers Guide series to build health literacy
- Led the Mormon Health Stakeholder Group
- Co-chaired the Pandemic Flu Community and Faith-Based Preparedness Working Group (2006-2012)
- Served on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Gender Technical Working Group (2005-2011)
Haiti Health Response
After Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, Konkel chaired the Haiti Health Facilities Working Group. The team developed a Master Health Facility List to uniquely identify health facilities and track resources during the crisis response.
This work later became a published research paper cited 87 times by other researchers. It showed how standardized facility lists improve emergency coordination.
Building Trauma-Informed Communities
Perhaps Konkel’s most distinctive contribution involves trauma-informed care in non-clinical settings.
What Is Trauma-Informed Care?
Trauma-informed care recognizes that psychological trauma affects health, behavior, and wellbeing. It means designing services that avoid re-traumatizing people while promoting healing.
SAMHSA defines trauma as events experienced as harmful or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects. According to national experts, trauma impacts mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
The TiCong Initiative
In 2013, Konkel founded Building Resilient Communities through Trauma-Informed Congregations Community of Practice (TiCong). This initiative addresses what she calls “co-occurring epidemics”:
- Suicide
- Violence
- Untreated mental illness
- Addiction (including opioids)
She argues these aren’t separate problems. They’re symptoms of underlying toxic stress and trauma.
TiCong trains faith communities to recognize trauma and respond appropriately. The goal: create protective environments where healing happens naturally through human connection.
Key TiCong principles include:
| Principle | Application |
|---|---|
| Recognize trauma’s prevalence | Train leaders to understand how common trauma is |
| Create safety | Design spaces and interactions that feel safe |
| Build trust | Use transparent processes and consistent communication |
| Support peer connections | Enable people with shared experiences to help each other |
| Empower choice | Give people control over their healing process |
Recognition and Impact
In 2018, the Center for Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology named Konkel the Muslim Mental Health Advocate of the Year. This recognition came despite her not being Muslim herself.
It highlights something important: her work transcends specific faith traditions. She works across religious boundaries to advance shared health goals.
Research and Publications
Konkel maintains an active research profile alongside her government work.
Notable Publications
“Engaging Community and Faith-Based Organizations in the Zika Response, United States, 2016” This paper documented how faith organizations mobilized during the Zika outbreak. It provided a model for future public health emergencies.
“Development and use of a master health facility list: Haiti’s experience during the 2010 earthquake response” This research showed how standardized facility identification improved emergency coordination. Other countries have since adopted similar approaches.
Her work has been cited 87 times by other researchers studying community health, emergency response, and faith-based interventions.
Research Interests
According to her Google Scholar profile, her research focuses on:
- Translational science (moving research into practice)
- Behavioral health
- Community-based interventions
- Faith/spirituality and health
- Asset mapping (identifying community strengths)
What Makes Her Approach Different?
Many public health leaders focus on clinical interventions or policy changes. Konkel focuses on community capacity.
Asset-Based Thinking
Traditional public health often starts with deficits: What’s wrong? What’s missing? What do people lack?
Konkel flips this. She asks: What strengths already exist? Who do people already trust? What networks are already functioning?
This matters because:
- Communities resist being treated as problems to fix
- Existing assets can be mobilized faster than building new systems
- Local knowledge often surpasses expert knowledge about local conditions
- Sustainable change comes from within communities
Cultural Humility
Her work shows consistent cultural humility. She doesn’t assume scientific expertise trumps community wisdom. She doesn’t try to replace faith leaders with healthcare professionals.
Instead, she equips trusted messengers with accurate information and lets them deliver it in culturally appropriate ways.
Current Priorities and Future Goals
Doctoral Research
Konkel’s return to school in 2020 wasn’t about credentials. According to her UNC biography, she wants to:
- Gain proficiency in systems thinking
- Sharpen research skills
- Develop community training tools
- Build foundations for “self-healing community”
That last phrase deserves attention. She’s not trying to create systems where professionals heal communities. She’s trying to help communities heal themselves.
Homelessness and HIV/AIDS
Her current SAMHSA portfolio addresses two interconnected challenges. People experiencing homelessness face elevated HIV/AIDS risk due to:
- Limited healthcare access
- Higher rates of substance use
- Survival sex
- Mental health challenges
- Systemic barriers
Konkel’s programs work to address both conditions simultaneously rather than treating them separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kimberly Konkel’s current position?
She serves as Senior Public Health Advisor at SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, leading homelessness and HIV/AIDS programming.
What education does Kimberly Konkel have?
BS in psychology and MSW from Brigham Young University. Currently pursuing Executive DrPH at UNC Chapel Hill.
What is trauma-informed care?
An approach that recognizes trauma’s widespread impact and designs services to avoid re-traumatization while supporting healing.
What is TiCong?
Building Resilient Communities through Trauma-Informed Congregations, a community of practice Konkel founded to address suicide, violence, mental illness, and addiction.
Why focus on faith communities for health?
Faith leaders are trusted messengers with regular community contact, making them effective partners for health education and intervention.
Why This Work Matters Now
America faces overlapping health crises: rising suicide rates, ongoing opioid deaths, widespread trauma, and growing homelessness. Traditional healthcare systems struggle to reach everyone who needs help.
Konkel’s approach offers a different path. By working through existing community structures and trusted relationships, she helps health interventions reach people who might never enter a clinic.
Her 20-plus years of experience show that this approach works. Communities can become healing environments when given proper tools and support.
The question isn’t whether one person can solve these problems. The question is whether we can build systems where communities solve them together. That’s what Kimberly Konkel has spent her career trying to do.
