John D. Damon, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
John Damon’s clinical and executive leadership experience spans more than 25 years. Joining Canopy in 1993, he began as a therapist at the CARES Center Jackson. He went on to become Clinical Director and serve in the capacity of CARES Center Director and Chief Operating Officer before transitioning to Chief Executive Office in 2013. As the primary public figure for the organization, John plays a critical role in fostering relationships between Canopy and other leading healthcare providers, political entities and professional thought leaders and organizations.
John is a Fellow of the fifth class of the Health Innovators Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He is a board member of the Mississippi Business Group on Health. John is the past president of the Mississippi Association of Child Caring Agencies, past president and board member for the National Association for Children’s Behavioral Health in Washington, D.C., and past president of the board of directors for the Behavioral Health Society of the Mississippi Hospital Association. He was selected as a Top CEO by the Mississippi Business Journal. John currently serves on the Mississippi Children’s Justice Commission. John has also served on other committees including the Governor’s Healthcare Task Force, the Mental Health Task Force (chair), Mississippi’s Children’s Mental Health Task Force, and the Mississippi Autism Advisory Committee.
As an adjunct professor, John has taught in both undergraduate and graduate academic institutions and has presented to the U.S. Senate Caucus Committee as well as state, regional and national audiences on foster care, mental health and substance abuse. John is a published author where his work has appeared in numerous books and peer reviewed journals for children’s behavioral health.
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Mississippi College, a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Reformed Theological Seminary, and earned his doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from Jackson State University. He completed his residency in Child Psychology at University of Mississippi Medical Center.
John and his wife are proud parents of five children. They attend Broadmoor Baptist Church and reside in Madison, Mississippi.