Presenters

Dr. Jerome Adams is a Presidential Fellow and the Executive Director of Purdue’s Health Equity Initiatives on October 1, 2021.  He is also a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health. As the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and a prior member of the President’s Coronavirus task force, Dr. Adams…

Will M. Aklin, Ph.D., is director of the Behavioral Therapy Development Program within the Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland—College Park. Dr. Aklin’s areas of research include development of theory-derived targeted treatments; studies that integrate…

Abu As-Sidiq is a person in long-term recovery. Abu grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and has lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1989. Since the early 1990s, Abu struggled with addiction. For many years, he was in and out of correctional facilities and treatment centers. Growing sick of a cycle of addiction and incarceration, Abu ended…

Black, Pregnant, Substance Abuse and Unheard: Breaking the Silence and Removing Treatment Barriers to Heal Future Generations

Bobbi Bledsoe is the & Project Specialist for Pregnant and Parenting Women’s Services at the Greater Louisville Recovery Project.  Bobbe a person in long term recovery from substance abuse and has overcome the odds and stigma related to recovery in the African American community. While life prior to recovery was filled with countless attempts to…

President & CEO of the Northern Ohio Recovery Association

Anita Bradley is the founder and Executive Director of the Northern Ohio Recovery Association (NORA). Anita is a graduate of Kent State and Cleveland State Universities. She earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice studies and a master’s degree from Cleveland State, respectively. Bradley founded the Northern Ohio Recovery Association in 2004 to prevent the…

The Rev. Jan Brown is Founder/Executive Director of SpiritWorks Foundation Center for the Soul. An ordained Deacon in the Episcopal Church, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, she serves at Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, VA. Jan is a graduate of the College of William and Mary with a BA in Psychology, is certified…

Leroy Brown was born in Hamilton at Fort Hamilton Hospital May 16, 1978 to Leroy Henderson and Tommie Ann Brown. Mr. Brown went to Harrison Elementary School and graduated from Hamilton High School. In 2004 Leroy gave his life to Christ and recorded his first Gospel rap album title “Living Water.” He joined Community Friendship…

Mr. Burks is a CPRS and the outreach coordinator for Twin Cities Recovery Project in Minneapolis, MN.  Christopher is a person in long term recovery, who has battled with addiction and incarceration for over twenty years. Tired of the life he was living previously, Christopher wanted more, and realized he needed a change. Christopher decided…

Dr. Clark, MD, JD, MPH is currently the Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. He is formerly the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, where he led the agency’s national effort…

Allegra is a an Associate Clinical Social Worker. She earned her masters in social work at Smith College in 2019, and her first masters degree in women and gender studies from San Francisco State University in 2008. Allegra worked as a high school literacy specialist in the Bay Area for six years prior to becoming…

Akosua Dankwah is graduating with her Doctor of Public Health degree in May 2022 from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a fellow at the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also a consultant at the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose at…

CRCC- Chicago Recovering Communities Coalition Founder/Executive Director

Person in long term Recovery 33 years. Founder of the 1st Recovery Community Organization in the state of Illinois.  20 years of experience as a certified addictions counselor in the field of alcoholism and substance abuse treatment and recovery. 11 years experience setting up and managing Residential Extended Care Facilities/Recovery homes in the Public and…

After many years of addiction, Pastor Monica found the love of God and was compelled to go to the streets with it. She worked in homeless shelters while attending North Central University. It was here that she began to grasp a vision for how God can meet the needs of hurting people by providing a…

My contribution to the panel discussion will focus on addressing stigma using a harm reduction approach: Person center language Harm reduction Substance use disorder education

The Impact of the War on Drugs and the Recovery Movement for Black Communities

As Legal Action Center’s Senior Vice President of Policy Advocacy, Tracie oversees both the New York and Federal policy advocacy work on LAC’s core issues related to substance use, harm reduction, and criminal legal system reform. Tracie has worked more than 30 years in the health and social services policy arena as a policy advocate,…

Peter has over 30 years’ experience in the substance use disorder treatment and recovery field.  He joined the Office of National Drug Control (ONDCP) in October 2010 as the Chief of the Recovery Branch and currently serves as a Senior Policy Analyst supporting the ONDCP Office of Public Health. In this capacity, Peter provides expertise…

Vice President, Minnesota Certification Board, & Vice President, National Acupuncture Detoxication Association (NADA)

Nate Hurse is a Licensed Independent Clinical social worker. He comes with a wealth of expertise in the areas of clinical and program development, substance use disorders, successful treatment of co-occurring disorders, recovery coaching, as well as specializing in culture-centered counseling. He is also a licensed alcohol and drug counselor in multiple states and has…

Founder and Owner, the 2nd Chance Project

I started the 2nd Chance Project in June of 2020, in response to the unrest that was happening in my community in South Minneapolis. My vision was to provide housing, role model support, and structure to individuals coming out of state hospitals and prisons. I’m originally from Chicago, IL but moved to Minnesota with my…

Detroit Recovery Project, Inc

Michael E. Johnson is a nationally recognized trainer and lecturer in the field of addictions. Over the years he has served the addictions field in many capacities; as a counselor, program director, consultant and trainer. He has developed a series of educational DVD’s that are shown throughout the United States within residential AOD treatment settings,…

George Lewis is the CEO of Motivational Consulting provides services and resources to substance use treatment, education, therapy, and mental health professionals. Motivational Consulting currently has contracts with several treatment facilities. The organization’s services include motivational lectures, discussion groups, Bami Soro (Culturally Directed Healing) curriculum and Addict Chronicles DVDs aimed at bridging the communication gap…

Gregory Kemp is a CPRS-R and the program director of the Twin Cities Recovery Project in Minneapolis, MN.  Gregory is a person in long-term recovery, with experience with co-occurring disorders and substance use. Greg has been a familiar face at TCRP, frequenting the social club when it was in the church basement, and continuing to…

Dr. Aja Dionna King is a Counseling Psychologist and Licensed Professional  Clinical Counseling with over 22 years.  She earned her Bachelors of Science degree  from the University of Alabama at  Birmingham, and her Masters of Art in  Community Counseling from Argosy University  in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King also holds a Doctoral degree in Education with…

COO, Faces and Voices of Recovery

Philip Rutherford is the Chief Operating Officer at Faces & Voices of Recovery. He is a recovery coach, a passionate member of the Recovery Community and possesses a self-described Doctorate from the school of Hard Knocks. As COO, he is responsible for multiple lines of business within the Faces & Voices ecosystem. Phil is credited…

Director of Partnerships

Tony Sanchez is a passionate advocate who works tirelessly to enhance and develop recovery-oriented systems of care for all people. As a person in long-term recovery, Tony is continually amazed by the opportunities that have come his way to use his lived experience and knowledge of recovery to serve others. He served as the Director…

Mark Sanders is CEO of On The Mark Consulting and Founder of the Museum of African American Addictions Treatment and Recovery.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Recovery Research Institute

Dr. Vilsaint is a principle investigator at the Recovery Research Institute and Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and research fellow at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on addiction recovery capital, reducing discrimination among individuals in recovery, and racial health equity in remission and recovery. Dr. Vilsaint is a community psychologist whose…