There are many ways to express a love for Memphis.  Laurie Powell does that through respectful, evidence-based mental healthcare.  She was a champion for a new name for her organization to remove some of the stigma that comes from seeking treatment for mental health.

Laurie is CEO of Alliance Healthcare Services.  When she started working there in 1993, the organization was called Southeast Mental Health Center.  “We changed our name to Alliance because of the stigma involved with going into a facility called ‘mental health,’” she said.  And the logo, which capitalizes the “all” in ALLiance, reflects the team’s commitment to bringing mental healthcare to the masses.  “We changed the logo to highlight ‘all’ — it’s ALL of us. Alliance. That ALL is highlighted because it’s going to take all of us, working together as a community,” she said.

Laurie attended the University of Memphis and earned her bachelor’s in sociology. “I thought I wanted to be a sociologist,” she said.  “I did research, statistics, all that.  Then I fell in love with mental health when I did an internship with a psychologist. So I went back and got a master’s in social work and a license in social work  I really like talking to people. I like helping people. So I was a therapist for the first 10 years.”

Her experience as a therapist in South Memphis and Orange Mound revealed much need.

Memphis is a city that’s beginning to realize its potential, thanks in large part to the work of the Greater Memphis Chamber and the Chairman’s Circle.  But there are still large areas of poverty.  And with poverty, there’s often trauma.

“Memphis is a traumatized city,” she said. “Just look at the pockets of poverty and the trauma the kids are experiencing. These kids become adults. If you haven’t addressed that trauma, you don’t know that there is hope, that you can have a career, that you don’t have to be stuck in that cycle of trauma and poverty.”

Laurie recognizes the need for early intervention when a Memphian needs mental healthcare.  One of her early victories at Alliance was securing a grant to provide emergency mental healthcare to people who recently experienced a psychotic break. “The research shows if you’re able to get someone in treatment within the first two years of their psychotic episode and give them the evidence-based treatment, you can help them get employment, go to school,” she said.  People who don’t get the help they need can end up homeless, or worse. Laurie’s grant provided funds to establish “an intensive team of 10 people, including a psychiatrist, a therapist and an employment specialist, who go out into the community,” she said. “They’re giving long-acting injectables for psychosis at hotels. They’re going to homeless shelters doing treatment on the spot.”

Schools are another focus for Alliance under Laurie’s leadership.  “One of my passions has always been early intervention so the school-to-prison pipeline can be diverted,” Laurie said.  Alliance pioneered a program to place mental health liaisons in schools, a program that earned the support of Governor Bill Lee. “The goal is to have a therapist in every school to work with that school, work with families and be a resource, so the therapist comes to you,” she said.  “You don’t have to come to the mental health facility. We do as much community-based work as we can.”

Laurie was born in Newport News, Va.  Her father was a scientist, and she followed her parents to Memphis when she was 19.  She attended the University of Memphis, where she earned a scholarship for a master’s in sociology.  She then earned a master’s in social work from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Laurie married Michael Harrison, a therapist and nurse, just a year after she started working at Alliance.  They had two sons, Ethan, now 23, and Nicholas, now 18.

In 2018 Alliance’s CEO retired, and Laurie applied for the position. “I’d done just about every job there is at Alliance,” she said.  “In my interview, the strategic plan I presented included a crisis center for Memphis.  Too many people are incarcerated who have mental illness and not enough access to care.”  She got the job.

“My husband, Michael, was a big advocate for what I was trying to do,” she said.  “He supported me when I became CEO.  He was my biggest champion and my best friend.  Lots of people don’t have that kind of support in their spouse. When we decided to have kids, he actually changed his whole career to make sure Ethan and Nicholas were taken care of and I could focus on my career. It amazes people when I tell them that story.”

Six years after Laurie became Alliance’s CEO, her dream of a mental health crisis center became a reality.  The $35 million, 55,000-square-foot facility at 3200 Broad Avenue opened this February.

For Laurie, the moment was bittersweet. In 2015, her husband was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The first round of treatment was successful, but his cancer returned in early 2020.  He died in August 2020.  “I started working on this building right before he died,” Laurie said.  “And it’s been a labor of love for the five years since he died.  He knew this was one of my biggest passions, that I’m going to do this, to see it from the beginning designs and then through the final construction. That did give me something to focus on during the grieving process.”

Laurie said her goal with the new center was to expand access to care and build a crisis facility for adults in Memphis and Shelby County.  “Our community deserves that,” she said.  “We expanded access to care by increasing the number of beds available for detox, crisis stabilization and respite. We added outpatient services to the new crisis location to remove barriers for ongoing care. We have 500 employees with a budget of more than $60 million, with 20 locations throughout Memphis and Shelby County including outpatient, crisis, peer support and housing services.

“Our next phase will be opening a 24/7 crisis facility for children and youth that will remove barriers to care with the goal to divert families in need of immediate behavioral healthcare from waiting in emergency rooms,” she said.  “A long-term vision is to have first responders bring adults and children to the crisis centers who would benefit from immediate treatment instead of incarceration.”

Laurie’s thoughtful leadership for Memphis has been honored.  She was named a 2025 CEO of the Year by Memphis Magazine, an honor shared by the Chamber’s own president and CEO, Ted Townsend.

When she’s not working to meet our community’s mental health challenges, Laurie loves spending time with her family and traveling to new places.  “I love New Mexico,” she said.  “My son Ethan’s wife is from there, and Sante Fe and Taos are my favorite spots.”

Laurie also loves reading.  “I love any book by Jane Austen,” she said.  “I took a class called British Novels in college, and I was hooked. I also love to sing and was in choir my entire youth through college. I love many styles of music.  It is therapy to me.  I even took opera vocal lessons years ago.”

Even though some might find her work a real challenge, Laurie sees wonderful things happening in this community.  “I love living in Memphis,” she said.  “I feel there is a movement growing where we realize we must all work together to lift the community up!  We are all connected.  When I meet with other agency and community leaders, I know we will move this community forward.”

That’s why Laurie and her team invest in the Chairman’s Circle.  “This is one reason Alliance joined the Chairman’s Circle:  We learn more about issues that we can address together.  Together we can solve anything.  Alliance’s mission it to promote wellness in our community, and I think the Chamber and Chairman’s circle want to lift up the community as well.”

Laurie also works to lift the community through service on the boards of the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations, Tennessee Ballet Theatre and the Healing Center.

Laurie has had mentors along the way.  She cites Pastor Diane Young, Pat Morgan and Commissioner Marie Williams.  “These strong women have paved the way in the behavioral health field and are compassionate and wise,” she said.  “My deceased husband was my biggest supporter and advisor.  Without him, I would not be in the position I am in today.”

And how does she feel about the position she’s in now?  “Thirty-one years in mental health – I obviously didn’t do it to be wealthy, you know? I’m passionate about Memphis, and that’s why I’ve stayed here,” she said.