Kate is a Robert Johnson Wood Fellow, University of Buffalo graduate, and leader of Clarity Wellness
From Clarity Wellness Community,
Kate (Shea) Lewis of Wellsville, Executive Director of Clarity Wellness Community, was recently recognized by Buffalo Business First for transformational leadership in its annual 40 under 40 awards. Kate was chosen from more than 250 nominees and joins 39 other Western New York leaders younger than 40 years old being honored this year.
Kate began her journey at Clarity (then known as Allegany Rehabilitation Associates) as an intern in 2006 while completing a Master of Social Work program at the University of Buffalo. After completing her degree and working for a Buffalo-area behavioral health provider, she ultimately returned to her hometown of Wellsville, and took on the project of transforming a Day Treatment Program into a cutting-edge Personalized Recovery Oriented Services program. Clarity’s PROS program is recognized as one of the most innovative programs of its kind in New York State. Kate then took on additional responsibilities as Director of Clinical Operations for Clarity, where she once again transformed services. This time she embedded a vision of recovery throughout the organization, while implementing a person-centered care model that puts an emphasis on personal choice and the belief that all people can achieve recovery. During that time, she oversaw the implementation of a new electronic health record and developed a telehealth program while the concept was still in its infancy, pre-COVID.
After serving as Clarity’s Associate Executive Director, she transitioned to serve as Arnot Health’s Behavioral Health Service Line Director, where she was able to gain a perspective of inpatient services and their role in the continuity of care. She returned to Clarity in January 2022 as Executive Director of the multi-county organization. In the past 22 months, she has helped build a peer support program, and will soon announce the opening of a Recovery Center, which fills a long-established gap in services in Allegany County. She also reorganized the fiscal department of the organization with a view of long-term viability for Allegany County’s primary provider of mental health services.
When Kate isn’t keeping the scorebook and counting pitches for a Wellsville Little League team, she serves as the chair of the Allegany County Mental Health Sub-Committee and is a member of the Appalachian Recovery Coalition. She previously served as a board member and committee chair for the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services in Albany.
Kate is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellow, Cohort 2018, and a graduate of the 2016 Leadership Allegany program.
Read the full list of “40 under 40” from Buffalo Business First:
https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2023/11/10/40-under-40-entire-class-2023.html
