About Our Community Boards
Our work is guided by three national Community Boards. Our Community Boards determine the research priorities for recovery support services, determine the selection of early career investigators for our Fellowship and Trainee programs, give input on pilot studies and other research projects, and participate in sharing research findings with the broader community. Our three Community Boards are made up of individuals from all around the country who bring their diverse expertise to this work.
Justice-Involved Community Board
This board is made up of adults who are in recovery and who have former or current involvement with the juvenile or adult justice system.
Provider and Payor Community Board
This board is made up of staff from organizations that provide or pay for recovery support services.
Young Adult Community Board
This board is made up of emerging adults (age 18-25) who are in recovery from substance use.
Note: Community Board members had a choice of how much of their personal information to include on this page, including the option of providing an anonymous bio. Members also chose the language and terminology themselves.
Justice-Involved Community Board
Terrence S. McTier Jr. (Board Co-Facilitator)
Dr. Terrence S. McTier Jr. is currently the Assistant Dean of Students - Director of Student Conduct & Community Standards at Oregon State University. His previous roles include Interim Dean of Students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Inaugural Director of the Prison Education Project at Washington University in St. Louis. McTier has an extensive background in serving and working with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults. He started his career as a GED instructor in prison, sat as an observer for the state of Ohio Parole Board, and served as a mentor to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth.
Joseph (Board Co-Facilitator)
I am a first-generation Hispanic American, who was subjected to chronic discrimination and ethnic-related violence, which attributed to only successfully completing the 7th grade and indulgence with suboptimal criminal and drug-related behaviors. These risky decisions resulted in numerous arrests, stints in jails, rehab admissions, and a brief period of incarceration in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Today, I am a summa cum laude college graduate, mentor, academic tutor, and current PhD student based in the South.
Jose Flores
Jose Flores spent almost 13 years incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Jose currently works with the State of Texas in addressing the opioid epidemic and assuring that those individuals with opioid use disorder receive treatment, prevention, and recovery support services. Jose is also a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Internationally Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (ICADC), and Internationally Certified Criminal Justice Addictions Professional (ICCJIP). He has also held past certifications as a Certified Criminal Justice Addictions Professional, Recovery Support Peer Specialist, and Community Health Worker.
Kendra Stidhem
Kendra is a person with lived experience in addiction, incarceration, and homelessness. Kendra has over 9 years in sobriety and during these past years was instrumental in changing the visitation rules for the Oregon Department of Corrections, the passage of House Bill 4009, creating a mechanism to reverse a Termination of Parental Rights, and Senate Bill 241 creating a Bill of Rights for children of incarcerated parents. She currently works for Lane County as a Peer Support Specialist in behavioral health and addiction. Kendra is also a volunteer Mentor for Sponsors Inc., which supports those being released from prison.
Thalassa Montemurro
Thalassa Montemurro works for Relief Nursery in Eugene, Oregon. Her career started there ten years ago as a peer support specialist working with parents that were involved with child welfare, something she had been all too familiar with. Thalassa went on to get her CADCI (associate level alcohol and drug counselor) then on to her CADCII (baccalaureate level). Now supervising that same team, her goal is not just to be a good leader but to be a mentor to the individuals coming in after her. "If it wasn’t for the people before me that told me how to navigate those background checks or that my criminal history made me more empathetic to my clients, I would have stayed stuck in that same factory job and stuck in that negative self-talk." We do recover and we have much to offer.
Gregory Berry
Gregory Berry is a North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialist and SMART Recovery Facilitator, working with the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition as a Fayetteville (NC) Outreach Worker and member of the Fayetteville Cumberland Opioid Response Team. Mr. Berry is also a formerly incarcerated person in recovery, with over 20 years of lived experience in the criminal justice system. Additionally, Mr. Berry has over 7 years of successful recovery and is a full-time student working to obtain his credentials as a substance abuse counselor.
Eric
I am a Gun Violence Expert, opioid epidemic advocate, mentor (prison industry, juvenile justice), State Ambassador Missouri at From Prison Cells To Ph.D., Community Leader, Public Speaker, and Fashion Model/Actor. I have lived experiences (penal system, open air drug market), and I am also an Entrepreneur (E Hauling Services LLC). I let the people judge me and speak for my deeds and actions I pour into the community. On this board, I bring networking, resources, and investigative expertise to uplifting chemical dependency people.
Aisha Northington
Aisha is a woman who was formerly incarcerated and directly impacted by the criminal justice system, and she is a person in long term recovery. For the past 8 years, Aisha has worked for the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network. Her current role is Statewide Mental Health First Aid Training Coordinator and she also coordinates and trains for the Georgia Peer Support Institute. Aisha is also a Whole Health and Wellness Coach, Certified Peer Specialist- AD, MH, P and a Forensic Peer Mentor. Aisha also serves as a mentor for the Prison to Professional Program. Aisha is an advocate that stands on the front line to make change in her community and communities abroad. Her favorite quote is “I went to prison for what I did, not who I am.” - Mancy, P2P
Provider & Payor Community Board
Paul Solomon (Board Co-Facilitator)
(he/him/his)
Paul Solomon is the Executive Director at Sponsors, an Oregon based nonprofit organization that is recognized nationally, regionally and throughout Oregon as a model for prisoner reentry services. The agency operates 20 buildings on 7 sites with over 240 beds of transitional and long-term housing and ancillary programs for people with criminal histories. Mr. Solomon is dedicated to positive systemic change in the criminal justice system using research-based programs and interventions.
Amy Mericle
Dr. Amy Mericle is an addiction health services researcher with expertise in recovery support services. She received graduate degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago and completed post-doctoral training at University of California, San Francisco. As a Research Scientist in the Alcohol Research Group at the Public Health Institute, her work focuses on identifying unmet need for treatment and recovery support services as well as examining innovative approaches to meet these needs.
VonZell Wade
Dr. VonZell Wade is an Advanced Implementation Specialist (AIS) with the Opioid Response Network (ORN), and the Co-Founding Director of Lost Dreams Awakening (LDA) Recovery Community Organization in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Dr. Wade is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and the owner of Luo Counseling Center, Lower Burrell, PA. Dr. Wade is a person in active, ongoing, long-term recovery, established in 1991, and he has been an active participant in various recovery pathways, self-help, and change groups.
Dave Sheridan
Dave Sheridan is the Executive Director of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences. He is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Chandler Lodge Foundation (North Hollywood, CA) and served for a decade on the board of Southern California’s Sober Living Network. He is a national speaker and writer on recovery residence issues, with a particular focus on the development of statewide systems for supporting quality recovery residences. He is also an advocate and resource on fair housing issues.
Rod Robinson
Rod Robinson is the Deputy Associate Director of the Field Operations Directorate for the Office of Justice Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He is currently leading an initiative called Pathways to Wellness, which aims to provide critical services to Indigenous communities while also focusing on individuals who are involved in the justice system. Rod is committed to amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities, and his dedication to evidence-based practice and "practice-based evidence" is demonstrated through his unrelenting efforts in supporting Indigenous community members seeking or maintaining recovery, as well as those who are justice-involved.
Terrence Walton
Terrence D. Walton is executive director and chief executive officer of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. He was a certified drug and alcohol counselor for more than twenty years and has devoted his entire professional life to helping individuals, families, and communities impacted by addiction experience lasting healing, health, and happiness. He was previously the COO of another national membership association, where he led initiatives for addiction treatment and justice system professionals. Walton was also the director of treatment for a pretrial services agency and directed an adolescent treatment program.
Kelly Officer
Bio coming soon!
Young Adult Community Board
Morgan Humberger (Board Co-Facilitator)
Morgan Humberger is a recovery advocate with experience in adolescent substance use counseling, recovery peer support, and collegiate recovery programming. They are the collegiate recovery coordinator for the University of California San Diego and are pursuing their Masters in Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. Morgan’s life mission is to positively serve those impacted by substance use disorder and create recovery friendly environments wherever they go.
Ren (Board Co-Facilitator)
Ren’s studies as a psychology major led her to become involved in neuroscience-based
drug and PTSD research. This experience shaped her career interests and led her to work within
a clinical setting following her undergrad, treating individuals with substance and process
addictions. Through her work, she became aware of the impact of addiction in her own life and
began her true and intentional recovery. Ren is eager to be a voice in research efforts for
recovery support.
Saige
I have been in the recovery community since 2016. I am a person living with substance use disorder and want to engage in helping other young adults find community. In 2019 I worked for the Alcohol and other Drugs Department at my university in the Northeast through a grant on opioid use in which I was able to gain experience with policy, advocating, and creating safe spaces free of drugs and alcohol on a college campus.
Isaac Suarez
Hello, my name is Isaac. I am a sophomore at Grossmont College and I am planning on becoming an International Business major. Throughout my recovery journey, I gained a strong sense of self through mindfulness. I practice meditation and yoga daily, I am a strong advocate for mindfulness since it has changed my life for the better. Sharing my experiences is a passion of mine so I can encourage others to take care of the mind, body, and spirit. My favorite quote is “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandela
Allie
Allie has been in recovery for 3 years. She struggled in college with finding her sobriety, managing an internship and classes, and living under the rules of probation. She is starting graduate school at the University of Denver in the fall and hoping to achieve a Masters in Social Work. Allie is trying to live her life for others by connecting with people in recovery and advocating for people whose voices are diminished by the justice or healthcare system.
John Poland
John is a senior at the University of Connecticut expecting to graduate with a degree in Computer Science this year. He is in recovery from substance use disorder and is very active in the UConn Recovery Community. He is passionate about helping others with their recovery journeys so that they can grow and learn to love life as much as he has in his own recovery.
Jonathan Wrenn
Jonathan Wrenn, a system-impacted student, will attend Columbia University in Fall 2023 after studying at Germanna Community College. He aims to establish a non-profit organization to support foster care youth, drawing on his own experiences. He has received scholarships and recognition for his work in advocating for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Jonathan's dedication to education, his resilience, and his commitment to social justice make him an inspiring figure and a powerful voice for change. He works closely with non-profit organizations to provide feedback and insights based on his lived experiences.
Maddie Marr
Hello! My name is Maddie Marr. I currently reside in Vernon Hills, Illinois, and am attending school at Illinois State University as a Mass Media PR major. I love to read books and go to the gym during my free time. I am super excited to be on the board and help the community grow!
Shalon "Summer" Brouk
I currently live in Missouri, but I spent most of my childhood in the deep South. I am an avid illustrative artist and spend most of my time at home herding my pet rabbits around the house for self-care. I hope to be able to use my personal experience as a youth and as a young adult who didn't have access to resources for recovery and voice where concerns for the need for support and resources may be overlooked to influence a future of emerging youth and young adults with tools I and many others may not have had access to in order to promote a brighter future and inspire hope.
Eleanor Byrd
Eleanor Byrd, a Certified Peer Support and Harm Reduction Specialist, is committed to using her lived experience while walking the road to recovery with every individual she encounters. She is the Service Coordinator for Mercy StepOne Service and sits on multiple executive boards supporting individuals struggling with behavioral health disorders in St. Louis and Jefferson County, Missouri. She trains first responders and service providers on effectively assisting this population and works as a freelance graphic and web designer to enhance visibility for agencies helping justice-involved individuals and those lacking private insurance.
Graci Ledezma
Bio coming soon!