Texas One Voice: A Collaborative for Health and Human Services (One Voice Texas) was created after the 2003 Texas legislative session left health and human services organizations struggling to meet the needs of the community and competing for limited funding. In order to create cohesive goals, maximize program capacity, and attain adequate funding to meet community needs, One Voice Texas was created to leverage the expertise of hundreds of people in a multitude of organizations to identify and seek systemic solutions for the health and human services needs in our community and throughout our state. Today, 100+ organizations are members of One Voice Texas. 

One Voice Texas has developed the flexibility, breadth and depth of relationships in the community to respond to urgent needs in the short term by bringing the “right people to the right table at the right time.” Advocating for active and sustainable long term systemic transformation in its three priority areas - behavioral health, children and youth, and healthcare - requires ongoing collaboration and leads to both organizational capacity building as well as strong public policy. Collaboration includes grassroots audiences including community organizations or frontline service providers as well as key decision makers in agencies and public offices. One Voice Texas has a reputation for moving conversations outside of the “silos” and toward systemic solutions.

Short term interventions along with research into best practices and the sharing of experience and expertise by member organizations allows One Voice Texas to develop the models that can then be implemented and sustained by the service delivery/provider community. Long term systemic changes are the goal throughout every One Voice Texas priority workgroup but can only occur through the identification, development, implementation, and evaluation of those critical short term strategies.

Laurie Glaze has served as the Executive Director of One Voice Texas since its creation.  She has a thirty year background in health and human services. In 2000, she became the Managing Director of Adoptation, a collaborative of eight child placing agencies and Harris County Children’s Protective Services. Between 2000-2008, over 5,000 children became members of permanent adoptive families. The collaborative received several national and local awards. Laurie has presented workshops on child welfare services as well as collaborations at state and national conferences and many local organizations. 

Laurie holds a Masters in Social Work from the University Of Houston Graduate College Of Social Work. She has served twice as a Board member of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TAFCS) and has held numerous committee positions with the organization.

Laurie previously served as Chair of the Houston Community College Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee. This Committee was created in 2009 to assist and help provide the resources and tools necessary for the veteran students of HCC to become successful as they transition from military life to student life. 

In 2007, Laurie was named Texas Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers. In 2009, she received the Advocate of the Year Award from the Houston Area Association for the Education of Young Children and the SAVVY SISTER Award from Houston Woman Magazine.