Community Alliance president and CEO Carole Boye, champion of mental health care, to retire after 42 years of service
It is with heartfelt admiration and respect that Community Alliance announces our president and CEO of the past 42 years, Carole Boye, plans to retire this summer.
Carole’s retirement will cap a truly remarkable, groundbreaking career in which she has served as our agency’s first and only CEO. During a period of evolving norms and societal conversations around mental health care, she has been a steadfast and passionate advocate for people in need of mental health and substance use support. Under her leadership, Community Alliance has consistently expanded the services and programs we offer, developing a comprehensive, integrated approach to care that addresses the mental health, physical health and social well-being needs of individuals and their families.
Carole will continue to lead Community Alliance in the coming months as we make the exciting transition into our new 127,000-square-foot headquarters at the corner of 72nd Street and Arbor Street.
“I’m tremendously proud of the work Community Alliance has done to help countless individuals and families over the past four decades,” Carole said. “Through compassion and dedication, our staff and partners have improved so many lives while reducing the stigma preventing people from seeking out the help they need. When I leave my post later this year it will be with confidence that Community Alliance is poised to make an even more profound impact in the decades to come.”
Carole began her career as a community liaison, social worker and counselor for a variety of organizations that served youth with emotional and behavioral challenges. She joined Community Alliance in 1981 as executive director and quickly established herself as a pioneer in advancing mental health care in the Omaha metro and surrounding region.
In the decades since, she has overseen the development of a full range of community-based services for people living with mental illness and substance use disorders and provided leadership in strategic planning, public policy innovation and development, board and community relations, resource allocation and more.
In 2023, Community Alliance was proud to serve as a leading voice in advocating for the successful passage of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Act in Nebraska. CCBHCs ensure access to coordinated, comprehensive behavioral health care by serving anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use, regardless of their ability to pay, place of residence or age.
The process to identify Community Alliance’s next CEO is underway. A search committee comprised of Community Alliance board members and community stakeholders will direct the search for local, regional and national candidates.
“Carole Boye has been a tireless champion of compassionate, people-first mental health care from the earliest days of Community Alliance’s existence,” said George Kleine and Margie Heller, board chairs of the entities supporting Community Alliance. “As we begin the search for Community Alliance’s next CEO, our focus will be to maintain the mission, values, quality of service and community responsiveness that have been the hallmark of this organization throughout Carole’s extraordinary tenure.”
Listen:
In this December 2023 Lives Radio Show & Podcast interview, Community Alliance CEO Carole Boye talks with host Stuart Chittenden about her 42 years leading Community Alliance and how treatment of mental illnesses and community conversations around mental health have changed in that time.