John Snook, JD
John Snook, JD, is the Chief Policy Officer at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, a trailblazing organization at the intersection of policy and practice. In this role, John drives the Institute’s mission to transform on-the-ground initiatives into effective policy solutions for communities in Texas and across the nation.
A nationally recognized expert in behavioral health system reform, John has spent more than 25 years shaping policy at the local, state, and national levels. He is a leading authority on the criminalization of mental illness and a sought-after voice in national media. His influential work on the erosion of mental health treatment options—produced during his tenure at the Treatment Advocacy Center—remains among the most cited in the field over the past two decades.
Prior to joining the Meadows Institute, John led federal government relations for the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH), representing provider systems that serve individuals with mental health and substance use disorders. Before his time at NABH, John served as Executive Director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, now recognized as one of the nation’s most influential mental health advocacy organizations. Under his leadership, one-third of states made substantial reforms to their mental health treatment laws with the Center’s support, and he contributed to the Center’s increasing influence in the mainstream of mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) policy nationally. In 2017, John was appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee as one of 14 non-federal national experts.
At the Meadows Institute, John leads the organization’s national policy efforts as they impact Texas and oversees the state and national policy teams as well as the Insitute’s world-class Health and Public Safety team.
John earned his law degree from the George Mason University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Washington & Jefferson College.
