Jesse Heffernan recently joined the Region 5 office as a Behavioral Health Advisor for the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. In his role, Jesse helps to lead the efforts to advance the agency’s mission of reducing the impact of mental illness and substance abuse on America’s communities in Region 5, which includes the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Jesse Heffernan is a thoughtful and dedicated leader in the field of substance use and mental health recovery support services with significant expertise in organizational development, servant leadership, and recovery community engagement.
He brings a wealth of experience to his work, having worked in community spaces for over 22 years in volunteer and professional roles including AmeriCorps Volunteer for WI Assoc. of Homeless and Runaway Youth Services, Program Director of Goodwill NCW LGBTQ+ Youth Services, Program Director to The Iris Place Peer Run Respite, National Outreach and Empowerment Coordinator for Faces & Voices of Recovery and Chief advocacy and recovery officer for Telehealth Recovery Network. He is the Founder of Helios Recovery Services, a training, and consulting, and change implementation company that specializes in igniting and supporting leaders to create healthy, responsible, thriving individuals and communities that launched in May of 2015. He has served as the Co-Chair of The Privilege Institute, Vice-Chair of Rise Together, Wisconsin Governors State Appointed Heroin/Opioid Task Force and sat on the committee for the International Association of Recovery Coach Professionals. His passion for recovery is evident in his work, and he has been involved in numerous initiatives, including implementing Wisconsin’s first Recovery Coach AmeriCorps program and co-creating mental health and wellness campaigns. Jesse's belief is that Recovery is the process of returning to inherent worth and dignity, and he lives in Wisconsin with his wife and four children, enjoying all things in geek culture, basketball, and coffee.