Speaker's Profile

Kana is a nationally recognized expert in mental health, substance use, social determinants of health, and trauma.  She is a consultant at McKinsey & Company and co-director of the Center for Societal Benefit through Healthcare.  Kana has more than 20 years of experience as a federal executive in mental health and substance use policy, data, programs, and practice improvement. She is an adaptive leader with a strong record of achieving public policy goals, delivering programmatic impact, and inspiring organizational and social change.Prior to joining McKinsey, Kana was Acting Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Appointed in 2015 by HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Ms. Enomoto provided executive direction and policy leadership for an agency with 600+ employees and a fiscal year budget of over $4 billion.  Kana also served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Surgeon General VADM Jerome Adams. In this capacity, she provided strategic guidance to the Surgeon General’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.   During the course of her federal career, Kana helped to advance many milestones in the behavioral health field including Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health, Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, and Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America.Kana earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Senior Managers in Government Program.