Torie Keeton is the policy and government affairs manager at the NC Rural Center. In this role she works with state and federal lawmakers to advance the Rural Counts advocacy agenda, a set of innovative nonpartisan policy solutions to rural North Carolina’s biggest economic development challenges.
Before this position, Torie worked in similar roles focusing on mental health and addiction issues, conducting policy analysis, developing legislation, and leading advocacy efforts at both the state and federal level for equitable access to behavioral health coverage and treatment.
Torie graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Health, focusing her studies in health policy. It was at Potsdam she learned to appreciate the importance of rural consideration in policy formation and was introduced to Health in All Policies – a public health approach she fully devotes herself to today.
When not reading policy, tracking politics, or walking the halls of the General Assembly, Torie is appeasing her 5 year old shih tzu Emmett, listening to podcasts, or singing Broadway hits in her car.