Our Team

Staff and Contractors:

Susan Carter, CPSW

CEO / Executive Director

Payton Kennedy, RYT

Events & SHE RECOVERS Dance Creator

Facebook

Liana Kennedy, BA, CPRC, SRCD

Certification Programs

Lisa Wall, SEP, CTP, SRCD

Community Engagement

Kelly Zelenka, BS

Chapter Development

Elise Padilla, MSW, MBA, CPSW

Volunteer Development

Rochelle Davidson, MA, ABS, SRDC

Community & Volunteer Support

Kelly Fitzgerald Junco, CPRC, SRCD, BS, BA

Marketing

Carrie Potter

Design

Niki Abdoli, BA

Content & Marketing

Carrie Hodges Thomas, BPA

Development Consultant

Regina Prince

Finance & Accounting

Trusted Advisors:

Shari Hampton, CPRC

Advisor, Healing Racism in Recovery

Ester Nicholson, CPRC

Advisor, Spirituality in Recovery

Kim Bernosky, PhD

Advisor, Grants & Research

Kimberly Allen, LCDC

Advisor, Mental Health

Onawa Labelle, Ph.D.

ADVISOR, GRANTS & RESEARCH

Board of Directors:

Dawn Nickel, PhD, CPRC

Founder and Board Chair

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Taryn Strong, RYT, CPRC

Founder and Board Vice-Chair

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Susan Carter, CPSW

Executive Director and Ex-Officio Board Member

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Shelly Dimitrijevic, RN, BSN

Board Member at Large

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Mary Beth O’Connor, BA, JD

Board Member at Large

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Kirsten Newquist, MBA

Board Member at Large

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Dawn Nickel

Dawn Nickel, Founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, is a thought leader in the women's recovery sphere as well as an accomplished leader, dedicated researcher, and visionary in the recovery moment. She holds a Ph.D. in health care policy with extensive experience in researching and writing about women experiencing substance use disorders, mental health challenges, and intimate partner violence. Dawn started her own journey of recovery from a substance use disorder and domestic violence in 1987. She is also in recovery from anxiety, grief, trauma, overworking, and cancer. Dawn's tell-it-like-it-is wisdom has created a ripple effect where you will often hear her quotes "the shit you did is just the shit you did - it's not who you are" and "recovering from all the things" resonating throughout many recovery realms.

Currently working on her first book, Dawn is living proof that in a world where all women in or seeking recovery are celebrated, supported, and deemed essential to healthy communities - anything is possible. She is fondly referred to as Mama Dawn in the SHE RECOVERS Community and to her daughters Taryn and Ashley. Dawn lives, works, and plays with her beloved grandchildren on the traditional territories of the Lkwungen speaking peoples on Vancouver Island.

Taryn Strong

Taryn Strong is a founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as well as a trauma-informed yoga instructor, recovery coach, aromatherapist, and herbalist (and daughter to Mama Dawn). Taryn has developed a unique yoga retreat program and led over 40 yoga for recovery retreats since 2012. She is also the host of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast and most recently created and taught the inaugural trauma-informed SHE RECOVERS Yoga Teacher Training Program. Operating from a trauma-informed lens and a firm believer in anti-oppressive practices, Taryn brings an empathic and invitational approach to healing - empowering women to find and follow individualized pathways and patchworks of recovery.

Taryn's courageous vulnerability and passion for recovering out-loud has made her an influential voice in the global recovery movement - smashing the stigma often associated with substance use and mental health issues. Taryn creates and lives with her beloved and two dogs within the ancestral and unceded traditional territory of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples (Saltspring Island).

Susan Carter

Susan is an architect of hope and healing with over 30 years of experience in providing executive-level leadership to heart-centered teams in the non-profit realm. Since joining SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as Executive Director in April 2020, Susan continues to weave her experience with her passion to help other women receive what she has been so graciously given – long-term recovery from substance use disorder, body image issues, codependency, perfectionism, and moral injury.

Susan’s work in the treatment industry quickly revealed how stigma kept women struggling with mental health issues and addiction from seeking help, and the lack of resources available to them once they did. Having served as a founding employee of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for 20 years, playing an integral role in creating the global grassroots movement that changed the way breast cancer is talked about and treated, she felt called to utilize that experience to do the same for women struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Celebrating more than 27 years of continuous sobriety, Susan is a Certified Peer Support Worker (CPSW) in the state of New Mexico to provide resources and peer support to those in or seeking recovery. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her fur family of four, Alex, Chaco, Bodhi, and Gracie.

Shelly Dimitrijevic

Shelly Dimitrijevic’s professional and philanthropic activities have always focused on improving the lives of others. She began her nursing career at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and went on to become a LifeFlight nurse specializing in neonatal, pediatric, and cardiovascular intensive care.

Shelly has been involved with numerous charities focusing on children and education including the Charlee and the Chocolate Factory gala, The Venus Orbit, Design For A Cure, Jackson Memorial, and Impact Oasis. In 2010 she founded the Lotus program, a program that focused on educating parents on the nutritional needs of children and basic child development. Shelly also served on the Frost Science Museum gala committee for 7 years before Co-Chairing the event in 2015.

After a diagnosis of Celiac disease and subsequently receiving Certification as a Nutritional Consultant, Shelly recognized that topically applied products have an effect on her Celiac Disease and overall health. She turned her focus to developing skincare that was free of toxic and hormone-disrupting ingredients.

Since she lost her only sibling in 2012 Shelly has been determined to find a way to contribute to the recovery community in a way that can make a great impact and ensure that others have the resources necessary when they are struggling.

Shelly's substantial contributions to SHE RECOVERS of both time and resources have been instrumental and deeply appreciated.

Mary Beth O'Connor

Mary Beth is a founding member of SHE RECOVERS Support for Legal Professionals and is active at the local level with SHE RECOVERS in the Bay Area. Mary Beth has been living a sober life in recovery for over 26 years. She also has a history of trauma and abuse, from which she’s worked hard to recover as well. 6 years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014 Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to completing her writing and being more active in the recovery community.

She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing and develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach. In August 2020, Mary Beth had an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, I Beat Addiction without God, where she described building a personal recovery plan by combining ideas from LifeRing, Women for Sobriety, and Narcotics Anonymous. In November 2020 she had an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was a federal judge, and I support Safehouse. Here’s why. She is currently working on a full-length memoir.

Kirsten Newquist

As a result of being introduced to SHE RECOVERS through retreats and meet-ups, Kirsten will be starting her yoga teacher training in the fall. These retreats also led her to become more deeply involved with SHE RECOVERS in a volunteer capacity. Kirsten was instrumental in setting up some of the Foundation's grassroots groups and currently volunteers her time helping SHE RECOVERS Foundation to design and implement the Volunteer Chapter Network. Kirsten and her husband recently moved from Southern California to Roswell, Georgia to be closer to Kirsten's sister and two young nieces. When she isn't spending time being an aunt, you can find Kirsten hanging out with their rescue Labrador or exploring their new state.

Our Team

Staff and Contractors:

Susan Carter, CPSW

Payton Kennedy, RYT

Liana Kennedy, BA, CPRC, SRCD

Lisa Wall, SEP, CTP, SRCD

Kelly Zelenka, BS

Elise Padilla, MSW, MBA, CPSW

Rochelle Davidson, MA, ABS, SRDC

Kelly Fitzgerald Junco, CPRC, SRCD, BS, BA

Carrie Potter

Niki Abdoli, BA

Carrie Hodges Thomas, BPA

Regina Prince

Trusted Advisors:

Shari Hampton, CPRC

Ester Nicholson, CPRC

Kim Bernosky, PhD

Kimberly Allen, LCDC

Onawa Labelle, Ph.D.

Board of Directors:

Dawn Nickel, PhD, CPRC

Taryn Strong, RYT, CPRC

Susan Carter, CPSW

Shelly Dimitrijevic, RN, BSN

Mary Beth O’Connor, BA, JD

Kirsten Newquist, MBA

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Dawn Nickel

Taryn Strong

Susan Carter

Shelly Dimitrijevic

Mary Beth O'Connor

Kirsten Newquist

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