This is OUR Movement. This is OUR Cause.

Susan Carter | Executive Director | SHE RECOVERS® Foundation

SHE RECOVERS® Foundation has the women, the power and the presence to be a mighty force in our world. And until ALL women in or seeking recovery from these challenges are celebrated, supported and deemed essential to healthy communities, we will not rest. This is our movement. This is our cause.

~ Susan Carter | Executive Director | SHE RECOVERS® Foundation ~

This is OUR Movement. This is OUR Cause.

I first learned of SHE RECOVERS® in April 2017 over coffee with a magazine publisher here in Santa Fe. In speaking with my new friend, who also happens to be in recovery, he told me about a woman he knew who had struggled to get sober for years and finally managed to cobble together nine months by “going on yoga retreats and hiring a recovery coach through a group called SHE RECOVERS®.”

My best friend and I were in the process of setting up a therapeutic program with safe housing for women transitioning out of residential treatment, and I wondered if this organization could be a good referral source. Being unfamiliar with SHE RECOVERS®, I immediately came home to learn more online. I discovered the organization was hosting its first annual Recovery Conference for Women in NYC the next week and was disappointed when I saw it was sold out three months prior. After reviewing the amazing line-up of speakers for the event, I immediately put my name on the waiting list and booked my flight to New York knowing that I needed to be there regardless if I had a ticket or not. Six days later I was off to Manhattan on a mission to cultivate referrals for our soon-to-open transitional living program.

I’ll never forget the moment I walked into the ballroom of The Conrad in NYC.

The fervor of more than 500 women packed in a ballroom was palpable. Gabby Bernstein, New York Times best-selling author and self-proclaimed “spirit junkie,” had just finished speaking and women from all walks of life exploded with exuberant applause and knowingness that they were deeply connected to every other woman in that room. Tears flowed and hearts joined – everyone seemed to let go of any shame they brought with them and pride quickly took over. Pride that they were there and connecting with others just like them in a safe and transformative space.

It ignited an immediate flashback. As a founding employee and a 20-year career with an international breast cancer organization, I had the privilege of witnessing breast cancer survivors come together for the first time in a hotel ballroom – stepping out of the shadows to connect with one another and share their life-altering experiences. It was right then that I knew I was not just there to cultivate leads for my new endeavor, but I was being called. I was being called to share key learnings and vast experience from my previous career to be of service to SHE RECOVERS®.

I don’t think Dawn Nickel and Taryn Strong, founders of SHE RECOVERS® even remember meeting me as there were so many women waiting to grab their attention, but we had our first call on May 30, 2017. With the help of amazing legal counsel, SHE RECOVERS® Foundation filed its certificate of formation in April 2018 and its application for tax exemption status in October 2019. And in April 2020, SHE RECOVERS® Foundation received its official 501(c)(3) status as a public charity.

Serving as an executive in the nonprofit sector for more than 25 years, I have been incredibly blessed to have worked alongside brilliant, creative, deeply passionate professionals and volunteers to: launch a global grassroots movement in women’s health, develop an iconic brand identifying a world-wide cause, create and execute multi-million-dollar cause marketing programs with internationally recognized brands, influence public policy and improve access to care, develop mission and grant programs to address the unmet needs of women in more than 125 affiliate communities throughout the U.S., and raise and distribute more than $2 billion to advance research, improve access and quality of care, and impact the lives of millions of women, their families, and their communities around the world.

As a woman celebrating 27 years of continuous sobriety, I am deeply committed to giving back what I have so graciously been given.

And after meeting and working with the beautiful intelligent and impassioned women who have shepherded this community to where it is today, I knew this is where I wanted to put my stake in the ground. Working alongside these brilliant women in recovery would be the jewel in my career crown, not to mention a treasure in my life.

Serving as Executive Director of this vibrant movement is a true honor and privilege. And while this is a very unusual and uncertain time for health-related nonprofits, I have watched SHE RECOVERS® demonstrate agility in ways unimaginable to continue to connect, support and empower more than 325,000 women in or seeking recovery. The need for this community has never been greater as maladaptive coping mechanisms fueled by fear and isolation have escalated exponentially in 2020. Women are dying needlessly because they don’t have the resources and recovery capital needed to weather this storm. SHE RECOVERS® Foundation has been able to provide a lifeline to so many, but there are still so many who are unaware of our support.

Our foundation has audacious goals moving into the new year.

In addition to strengthening tools and resources for our community at large, we will continue to increase access and trauma-informed programs for women sharing similar backgrounds and struggles like we have for Veterans & First Responders, Mothers of High Needs Children, and Black, Indigenous & Women of Color. We will continue sparking inquiry through provocative Critical Conversations like the most recent entitled Healing the Effects of Racism for Black Women in Recovery. We will actively engage in research discovering new modalities proven to strengthen individual pathways and patchworks of recovery that will complement our currently offered SHE RECOVERS® Trauma-Informed Yoga with Taryn and SHE RECOVERS® Dance.

And to ensure access to care for all women, we will continue to build and add designation programs to bolster the recovery workforce like the online SHE RECOVERS® Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training Program coming up on January 28th, 2021. And when the world starts to rebound from the restrictions created by pandemic, we will be ready to launch our SHE RECOVERS® Chapter Network in local communities allowing us to create welcoming spaces for peer-based and peer-led recovery support groups and programs leading to lifelong relationships.

But while we continue to respond to the needs of our community, we MUST broaden our reach if we are truly going to shatter the stigma and shame for those suffering from mental health, addiction and other life challenges. Collaboration with other organizations, corporate partners, philanthropists, policymakers and individual contributors will be essential to create awareness and provide critically needed funding enabling us to succeed.

SHE RECOVERS® Foundation has the women, the power and the presence to be a mighty force in our world.

And until ALL women in or seeking recovery from these challenges are celebrated, supported and deemed essential to healthy communities, we will not rest.

This is our movement. This is our cause.

Deep bow of gratitude to Dawn Nickel, Taryn Strong, Payton Kennedy, Lisa Wall, Kim Timothy, Liana Kennedy, the amazing SHE RECOVERS® Designated Recovery Coaches, SHE RECOVERS® Trauma-Informed Yoga Teachers, past and present donors and sponsors, and all the women in SHE RECOVERS® who give tirelessly of their time to protect, maintain, and foster our community.

To explore the many ways you can support SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, please click here.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nika is just one of more than 325,000 women in the She Recovers Community.

“Alcohol is what brought me into recovery but for me, it didn't tell the full story. That is why I love SHE RECOVERS so much. We don't just talk about our demons and the drugs and the alcohol, we talk about the real issues that led us to using those things in the first place.”— Nika

When she was ready to deal with her past traumas and what drove her to drink, SHE RECOVERS was there. Sadly an estimated 34 million women are suffering from mental health/substance use disorders.

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1 Comment

Dawn Nickel on October 30, 2020 at 2:15 pm

Susan Carter – we are so incredibly fortunate to have you leading this movement with us! On behalf of Taryn and I (Founders) and our Board, Volunteers and Community Members – thank you so much.