Chime Asonye

2026
Written By Jennae Petersen

He/Him

Chime Asonye, a Black man with a close-cropped fade and a dark beard flecked with gray, smiles in a studio portrait. He wears a black blazer and turtleneck with a burgundy fabric rose on his lapel. His hands are clasped against a gray background.

Title: Juris Doctor (J.D.); Chime Asonye, J.D.

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Issue Areas: Disability policy and civil rights; mental and behavioral health policy, U.S. and global; suicide prevention and decriminalization; non-police crisis response; Medicaid and health equity; school mental health; Nigeria and the African diaspora

Also available for commentary on: U.S. politics and elections

Affiliations/Organizations: Nigerian Mental Health

Chime Asonye is a health policy advisor and first-generation Nigerian American working at the intersection of psychosocial disability, criminalization, and health access. In a country where attempting suicide is still a crime, he founded Nigerian Mental Health — Nigeria's largest multidisciplinary mental health and disability network, uniting more than 50 organizations across the country and the Diaspora. In Chicago, he organizes with the Treatment Not Trauma Coalition for non-police crisis response, co-chairs the health equity working group of the Illinois Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, and serves on the associate board of Thresholds, Illinois' largest community-based mental health provider. He holds a J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and his commentary and writing have appeared in Brookings, the World Economic Forum, and BBC News.

Jennae Petersen https://blueagatecreative.com
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