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    Frank W. Cornelia, MS, LPC

    Deputy Executive Director
    Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council
    Rosemount, Minnesota

    Frank Cornelia is the Deputy Executive Director of the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC). Before joining CBHC in 2012, he worked as a direct care professional, providing services to diverse client populations across various behavioral health settings. In his current role, Frank works alongside CBHC’s CEO to develop and maintain relationships with key community and government stakeholders. He also helps set the strategic vision for the organization, leads CBHC’s advocacy team, and oversees the development of CBHC’s annual policy platform.

    Frank has been instrumental in shaping major behavioral health policy reforms in Colorado, including:
    - Expanding Medicaid, including the addition of a full continuum of substance use disorder benefits
    - Developing and implementing a statewide crisis response system
    - Restructuring behavioral health facility licensing
    - Establishing the Community Behavioral Health Disaster Program in Colorado's Department of Public Health & Environment
    - Ending the practice of conversion therapy by licensed mental health professionals
    - Advocating for SB-207 (2017), which strengthened Colorado’s crisis response system and ended the use of jails as placements for individuals in behavioral health crises

    He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in health and human development from Montana State University. Frank and his wife, Jenny, live in Minnesota with their two children, Madeline and Max, and their dog, Gopher.

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