Dr. Walker Tisdale III

Dr. Walker Tisdale III serves as a Public Health Analyst within the Office of Behavioral Health Equity at SAMHSA. In this role, he manages a portfolio focused on the intersection of health equity, suicide prevention, crisis intervention, capacity building for community-based organizations, and national training/technical assistance efforts. He also serves as the Project Officer for the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence based in Atlanta, GA.

Prior, Dr. Tisdale served as Founder and Executive Editor of the online health education and health literacy platform Healthy Black Men, which served as a resource for Black men on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health topics. The online platform resulted in a print publication of the same name from 2010 to 2017. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant on health communications, embedding equity into health communications, and amplifying community perspectives in public health programs.

He also served as Director of Suicide Prevention for the state of Georgia prior to joining SAMHSA. Earlier this year, he was a featured presenter on African American Mental Health and Wellness at The White House for the Office of Public Engagement. Dr. Tisdale also served as a Public Health Analyst for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Office of Global Health, and the Office of Director in STD Prevention, focusing on public policy, program planning, and media relations.

He is currently completing his second year of his second doctoral degree in Health Professions Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.