Tony J. Walker

About Tony J. Walker

Dr. Tony Walker serves on the executive team of The Jed Foundation – a national nonprofit that serves as a thought leader on school mental health and suicide prevention. The Jed Foundation works within Higher Education Institutions and PK-12 schools and districts to help leaders build systems that protect the mental health of youth. In his role, Dr. Walker leads JED’s Academic Programs team, supporting implementation of JED’s programs, consultation work, and best practices of comprehensive school mental health and suicide prevention programming across our nation’s education landscape. Prior to joining JED, he served as a leader at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in his home state of Texas, contributing to public policy discussion on matters of school-linked mental health and leading a consulting team and portfolio of projects in support of the state\'s 1,200 school districts and 200+ higher education institutions related to mental health programs and best-in-class student services. Previously, Dr. Walker worked in multiple roles in public education, including as a teacher, school counselor and most recently serving as an executive district leader over Student Support Services at Uplift Education, a high performing network of schools dedicated to providing excellent educational opportunities to more than students in North Texas. Founding this work at Uplift in 2011, he established and supervised five large departments servicing 44 schools, including Counseling Services, Social Emotional Learning, Student Discipline and Restorative Practices, Prevention Programs, and Strategic Community Partnerships. Under his decade of leadership, Uplift developed and implemented one of the largest school-based mental health systems in Texas, allowing students and families direct access to licensed mental health clinicians in every school, robust SEL experiences, in-district family therapy services, and a full array of other wraparound programs and supports. Tony is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified School Counselor, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Missouri, a Master’s degree in Counseling, and Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from Texas Tech University. His research interests include leader coaching and mentorship, wellness programming, school-based mental health program development, and mental health crisis response across PK-12 and Higher Education systems, as well as LGBTQ+ issues in mental health.

Experience

1. Senior Vice President of Academic Programs

   The Jed Foundation (JED)

   Nov 2022 — Present · New York, NY, US

Education

• University of Missouri-Columbia

  Bachelor's of Science

• Texas Tech University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

  2012 — 2016

• Missouri Baptist University

  Master of Arts