Wendy Tiegreen Honored with Georgia’s BHSC Paladin Award
Lexicon Strategies partner Wendy White Tiegreen has been named the recipient of the 2026 Behavioral Health Services Coalition (BHSC) Paladin Award, a prestigious honor presented during Mental Health Day at the Capitol on February 18, 2026. The award recognizes decades of courageous leadership and unwavering advocacy to strengthen Georgia’s mental health system and advance recovery-focused care across the state.
The BHSC Paladin Award is presented annually to an individual who embodies the spirit of a “paladin” — a champion or hero in the fight to advance mental health, support recovery, and confront stigma. The term was originally suggested by the late Sherry Jenkins Tucker, former Coalition Chair, to reflect the boldness and integrity required to drive meaningful change. Award recipients must demonstrate sustained statewide leadership, consistent support for recovery-focused services, and the courage to challenge stigma head-on.
Wendy’s career exemplifies those qualities. A nationally recognized expert in behavioral health policy and finance, Wendy retired from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities after 30 years of distinguished service, where she most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Medicaid Coordination & Health System Innovation. Throughout her career, she has worked at the intersection of policy and lived experience, helping shape systems that promote recovery, expand access to care, and strengthen the behavioral health workforce.
Among her many contributions, Wendy was part of the original team that developed the first Peer Support services in the nation to receive federal recognition from CMS and SAMHSA, helping launch what is now a workforce of approximately 100,000 certified peer specialists across the country. Her leadership has consistently centered recovery, dignity, and person-centered care — the very principles the Paladin Award was created to honor.
The BHSC Paladin Award, inaugurated in 2022, is supported by leading advocacy organizations across Georgia, including the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network. Lexicon Strategies is honored to have Wendy’s expertise, heart, and fearless advocacy guiding our work — and we congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition as one of Georgia’s true champions for mental health.
