Kenya C. Madison, Senior Director of Healthier Delray Beach, a Palm Health Foundation initiative, has spent much of her life and career dedicated to service. A life-long, multi-generational resident of Delray Beach, FL. Growing up in “The Set” neighborhood, the city’s historic Black community, Kenya has focused on erasing the stigma of mental illness. Providing support to children, youth, and families, Kenya is a pioneer, creating new channels for people to get the help they need in community-based settings—our schools and the faith community.

Kenya spent nearly two decades working in Delray Beach’s schools as a classroom educator in her early career, certified school counselor for fifteen years, and later a specialist with the Department of Safe Schools assisting with the development of the School District’s School Behavioral Health programmatic framework. Simultaneously, she spent time contributing to communities of color in Broward and Palm Beach County as a Dual Master of Mental Health Counseling and Marriage, Family, and Individual Therapy. In her current role, she has been a leader in integrating the topic of mental health supports in the faith community, and a strong advocate for equitable standards of care for the community. Under Kenya’s leadership, the Healthier Delray Beach network has expanded to include county-wide, state-wide, and multi-state partnerships.

Kenya is driven by a vision of when access to mental health services as common as urgent care centers on every corner is and where, “When you don’t know what to do, there is someone who can help you make it to tomorrow. And no matter where you start, there is someone to ask how you are doing and help listen for the answer.”