Freida Outlaw PhD, RN, APRN, FAAN

Dr. Frieda Outlaw is the academic program consultant to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) at the American Nurses Association, after having served on the MFP National Advisory Committee for more than a decade. Previously she was an adjunct professor at the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and an associate professor at Meharry Medical College where she served as director of the Meharry Youth Health and Wellness Center. She was also the assistant commissioner of the Division of Special Populations, Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She provided leadership in securing thirty-two million dollars of federal funding to support transforming the state’s mental health system for children and their families. She was part of the leadership that was instrumental in passing legislation to create the Children’s Mental Health Council that was required to develop a plan for a statewide system of care implementation, which continues today. Dr. Outlaw is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and is an active member of the Psychiatric Mental Health and Substance Abuse Expert Panel.