Carlie Houchen oversees the foundation’s program work in behavioral health, public health, the primary care safety net and integrated care, while also helping lead Food is Medicine initiative. She joined the staff in July 2024.
Prior to joining Sunflower, she held a leadership role in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas’ Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative, where she worked closely with the program’s grantees to address the social determinants of health in Kansas communities. She previously served as a senior analyst for the Kansas Health Institute, where she worked on population health issues and led process facilitation work to support effective policymaking at the Kansas statehouse. She also led the working groups of the Special Committee on Mental Health Modernization and Reform (2020) and the Governor’s Substance Use Disorder Task Force (2018).
Originally from Miami County, Carlie earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from Kansas State University and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She and her family live in Roeland Park.
(785) 588-5210
chouchen@sunflowerfoundation.org