Elizabeth Henry is a woman in long-term recovery from substance use and the director of policy and community engagement at RecoveryPeople. In this role, she advocates at the state and federal levels for consumer rights and protections and the voice of lived experience to be heard. She served as the lead policy advocate for 6 pieces of legislation in the 87th Texas Legislative session (2021) with emphasis on recovery housing accreditation and anti-patient brokering laws. Elizabeth has authored and co-authored numerous policy briefs on these topics.  She regularly meets with state and federal agency staff and stakeholders to increase consumer access, choice and protections for people in recovery and their families. 

In 2019, Elizabeth served as a subject matter expert on an advisory committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)- Office of Women’s Health to inform the creation of an opioid toolkit for pregnant and postpartum women targeted to medical providers. She is an active member of the National Alliance for Recovery Residence’s Advocacy Committee, the Texas Coalition for Healthy Minds, Recovery Advocacy Project and the Texas Behavioral Health Advisory Council’s Housing Subcommittee and Peer and Family Subcommittee. She developed and is the host of Brown Bag Advocacy, a monthly educational advocacy series, and biennially coordinates two major advocacy events: ABCs of Advocacy and Recovery Day at the Capitol in Texas. 

She received her AAS in Human Services with a focus in Addictions Counseling in 2017 and is a Nationally Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Human Services in May 2022 and will pursue a Master’s in Public Health Administration after the 88th legislative session (2023).