Amelia Berry

Just Say Yes Project Director

As JSY Project Director at FCHD, Amelia is responsible for ensuring the project’s effectiveness at achieving its primary substance use prevention goals. She manages the coalition’s strategic direction, partnerships and sustainability, and is responsible for leading local implementation of the 10 steps of the Icelandic Prevention Model on which JSY is based. Prior to her work at FCHD, Amelia served as Executive Director of Yes Arts, a non-profit whose mission is to mobilize the power of community and the arts to disrupt the cycle of addiction. While at Yes Arts, Amelia initiated the partnership with FCHD that eventually became Just Say Yes. In 2019, Amelia was named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader, an opportunity that provided three years of leadership development training focused on health equity. With lived experience in the juvenile justice system following long-term exposure to adverse community environments and adverse childhood experiences, Amelia draws her passion for prevention from the constellation of protective individual and systemic supports that changed the trajectory of her life. She is regularly asked to present nationally and internationally about the innovative ways Just Say Yes is adapting the Icelandic Prevention Model in Kentucky. Amelia has two children and previously served as Vice Chair of the Frankfort Independent Schools Board of Education.