Staff

Mrs. Strickland served two New Jersey governors in key positions. She was the health policy director for the administration of Gov. James McGreevey, overseeing health and human services, as well as corrections policy.  Later, Mrs. Strickland was appointed by Gov. Jon Corzine as the deputy commissioner for human services, running the state’s Medicaid program with more than one million beneficiaries.

Between stints in state government, Mary worked for Roche Pharmaceuticals as the executive director for U.S. public policy, where she led a team of policy, advocacy and reimbursement professionals. Later she worked for Novartis Oncology, where she was responsible for designing and implementing public awareness campaigns worldwide. Her most recent role was in Washington, D.C., as executive director of government affairs for Sandoz, Inc., the world’s second largest generic pharmaceutical company.

As a former faculty member at NYU and now a guest lecturer at the University of North Florida, Mrs. Strickland has a passion for passing on her knowledge, particularly in the health care policy arena. She maintains an active nurse’s license and was recently certified as a multiple sclerosis nurse, as well as an assisted living facility director. Mrs. Strickland moved to Jacksonville full time in 2015. Her husband Steve works for the Navy as a public affairs specialist and they have four children, three in college and one in high school. Mrs. Strickland’s entire career has been focused on improving health care and access to needed services for a variety of populations. She is thrilled to be associated with Lutheran Social Services of NE Florida.