Tom Luce Policy Fund
Detail page
The Tom Luce Policy Fund honors the vision of our founding president and CEO, Tom Luce, whose courage and determination to solve problems others thought impossible have transformed Texas and continue to guide our work today.
You’re trying to change large systems, and they don’t change overnight.”
—Tom Luce
Tom approached public policy by asking questions others had not asked, bringing the right people together, and making complex problems understandable. His goal was not simply to produce ideas, but to develop practical solutions that could work in the real world.
What Responsible Policy Makes Possible
Effective care cannot reach millions of people through individual programs alone. The Meadows Institute connects evidence, public funding, and real-world practice so that approaches proven to work can become part of the systems people rely on every day.
Over the past decade, our work has:
- Helped state leaders invest $12.3 billion in mental health initiatives, including $5.7 billion in programs designed by the Meadows Institute
- Designed a consortium uniting all 12 Texas medical schools to expand same-day mental health care for more than 4.5 million students
- Enabled more than 7 million Texans each year to receive early detection and treatment through their primary care doctors
For every $1 of unrestricted funding invested in the Meadows Institute, we have leveraged more than $220 in sustainable public funding that has allowed us to turn policy into lasting change for millions.
Scaling What Works
Established in Tom’s honor by Deedie Rose, with generous support from Margot Perot and family, The Sarah and Ross Perot Jr. Foundation, and Carolyn and Karl Rathjen, the Tom Luce Policy Fund sustains the essential policy work that rarely carries designated funding.
Priorities include:
- Bringing mental health care into primary care, where people already turn for help
- Expanding effective treatment for people with serious or ongoing needs
- Reaching children, women and new mothers, veterans, and rural communities with care designed around their needs
- Responding quickly when crises or new opportunities call for action
- Strengthening the workforce through better training, clearer career pathways, and practical policy reforms
- Advancing AI that improves mental health care while protecting children and families
- Helping public leaders invest in approaches that deliver real results
- Bringing effective solutions to more communities across Texas and the nation
Lessons in Leadership & Policy
Hear Tom explain in his own words why policy is so important in this converesation with Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Meadows Institute.
From left to right: Carolyn Rathjen, Margot Perot, and Tom Luce