Sonia Chessen

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

In her most recent role as the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Sonia Oversaw SAMHSA’s mental health services, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, as well as the cross-agency efforts to improve behavioral health outcomes for children, youth and families. As the executive sponsor of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline initiative, she helped lead the transition to the new 3-digit number. Since its launch, the 988 Lifeline has answered more than 11 million texts calls and chats.

In addition to the mental health portfolio, Sonia oversaw SAMHSA’s daily operations and was responsible for SAMHSA’s budget and management functions, including the formulation and implementation of the $7 billion annual budget. Sonia was responsible for the development and deployment of the agency’s staff engagement strategy which resulted in significant increases in the agency’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ranking. In three years, SAMHSA went from 410th out of 411 to 77th out of 459 agency subcomponents.