Known for her contagious enthusiasm, Becky Haas is an international advocate and trainer on using a trauma informed approach, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) study.  She is a pioneer in creating trauma informed communities.  The work she led in Northeast Tennessee was recognized by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2018 as a model for other cities to follow.  In 2019 she co-authored the Building a Trauma Informed System of Care toolkit for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services detailing a blueprint for creating community resilience.  This toolkit was featured in PACEs Connection, Growing Resilient Communities 2.1 and has been recommended as a “practical tool” in John’s Hopkins, Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action.

From 2018-2020, Becky served as the Trauma Informed Administrator for a regional healthcare system providing training development and delivery to healthcare staff in multiple hospitals as well as was instrumental in raising awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as a social determinant to poor health and addiction within rural Appalachia.  Prior to working in healthcare, she was the Director of a crime prevention program for the Johnson City Police Department which is credited for reducing drug related crime in one neighborhood by 40% and creating a first probation program of its kind in Tennessee which was acquired by the Tennessee Department of Corrections and now serves as a state model for reducing recidivism.  While working for police, she assisted in strengthening relationships between police and community including culturally diverse populations resulting in the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. unity march in 2015.  Under her leadership these crime prevention efforts were awarded the Outstanding Crime Prevention Program of the Year for the southern region by the National Criminal Justice Association in 2014 and are listed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a success story.

Becky is the author of several sector specific professional development trainings with two receiving statewide accreditations in Tennessee as evidence-based training.  Among the diverse sectors of professionals, she has trained, she is uniquely distinguished for her work training police officers and others in the justice system to understand trauma.  She co-authored an article, “Increasing Empathy Through Trauma Informed Policing” based on her 3-hour POST Trauma Informed Policing Training which received publication in the International Association of Chiefs of Police Magazine in October 2021.

In 2020, Becky co-founded the Global Resiliency Accelerator which now meets quarterly and has grown to having participants from 14 countries.  Among many invited presentations in 2021, she presented to the San Antonio Public Health Trauma Informed Care Consortium, University Health System Trauma Informed Institute, Delaware State Police Department, Smyth County Virginia School District, Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, Sutter County California Public Health Department, Virginia Department of Justice, the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance, Academy of Social Justice in the UK, Georgia Medical School at Augusta University, and provided training for Anthem Health team members across the state of Florida.

A qualified subject matter expert, she has been certified by the SAMHSA Gains Center as a Trauma Informed Care Trainer and earned her professional certification in Trauma and Resilience from Florida State University.  Becky has completed courses in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) and Trauma Informed Classrooms from Texas Christian University as well as programs from Starr Commonwealth.  She is a certified Law Enforcement Crisis Intervention Team member and completed specialty training from the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement – National Association of Chiefs of Police.

She is an East Tennessee State University Ballad Health Strong Brain Institute founding member and serves as Co-Chair of curriculum development.  As an active member of the CTIPP National Trauma Campaign strategy team, she has presented several times on the monthly CTIPP CAN call.  She has been an ordained minister since 1996 and completed ministerial training at Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1979 and authored her first book, Your City is Waiting on You in 2017. 

Becky has been the recipient of numerous personal awards including a regional Women’s Tribute Award as a Transformational Woman in 2019, the Anita Steiner Award from Goodwill Industries for implementing job skill training into the reentry community and was inducted into the Social Work Honor Society at King University for her above and beyond contributions which embody the heart and mission of the Social Work profession.  In March of 2022, Becky received the prestigious Friend of Children award from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth recognizing her as a state and national leader in implementation and support of trauma informed services and communities.

Becky has a deep understanding of the importance for every professional sector to have intimate knowledge of healthy early childhood development and the potential for early adversity to disrupt that healthy development.  An avid cyclist, Becky is married to Jonathan and together their greatest joys are their two sons, David and Christopher along with their growing families.