Rebecca Boss is a highly regarded leader of behavioral health care and developmental disabilities services with special expertise in addiction and recovery solutions.
At The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC), Ms. Boss engages with federal, state, and philanthropic organizations to promote effective responses to the evolving needs of the behavioral health care system. Prior to joining TAC Ms. Boss spent 15 years in state government, including as director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) where she had oversight of the state’s publicly funded system for people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities. Among her achievements were the management, design and delivery of statewide efforts for medication-assisted treatment expansion, developing national behavioral health integrated care models, and expanding recovery outreach programs. Wellness, recovery, and parity were consistent themes of her leadership as she advanced efforts to promote inclusion and to eliminate fear and discrimination directed toward individuals living with behavioral health conditions.
Dr. Akosua Dankwah is a leader in community-engaged work at the intersection of faith-based organizations, public health, and policy. She is the founder and director of Christian Recovery Support Sanctuaries (CRSS), an innovative pilot, church-based recovery initiative that provides holistic recovery support and pastoral counseling through clergy-certified recovery coaches. Open to all community members on their recovery journey, CRSS offers safe and welcoming spaces housed within church sanctuaries.
Dr. Dankwah is also the founder and CEO of The Way, The Truth and the Life (WTL) Health Clinic, Inc. a thriving Christian free clinic serving resilient communities across Rhode Island.
Dr. Dankwah completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at the Recovery Research Institute (RRI) at Harvard Medical School, where her work focused on Christian-based recovery science. She earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, holds a Master of Public Health from Brown University School of Public Health, and received her Bachelor of Arts from Knox College in Illinois.
Alex West (he/him, they/them) is a person in long-term recovery. Alex is the Associate Director of UConn School of Law’s Housing and Eviction Defense Clinic.
Previously, Alex has worked as an attorney at SouthCoast Fair Housing, serving the south coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, South Coastal Counties Legal Services in Fall River, Massachusetts, and with homeless veterans at the Northwest Justice Project in Washington state. Prior to law school, Alex worked at YouthCare in Seattle, Washington, providing support to queer and trans youth.
Tom McClure is Senior Program Director, Campaigns at Energy Action Fund, the c4 sister organization of Energy Foundation. In that role, Tom manages the political and legislative campaign portfolio for the organization, working to grow the political power of our state coalitions and win policy campaigns to meet our clean energy goals.
Tom has a decade of experience working on electoral and issue-based campaigns. Before Energy Action Fund, Tom spent many years at Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation's largest gun violence prevention organization, where he served as the chief of staff. In that role, he worked to align organizational strategy across legislative and political priorities and coordinated national and regional strategic campaign teams across the organization. In 2022, he oversaw the campaign to pass the first major gun safety legislation through Congress in a generation. During his time as a senior leader at Everytown, the organization grew to include over 10 million supporters, hundreds of thousands of active volunteers, and a robust political, legislative, and organizing program in all 50 states. Prior to Everytown, Tom worked on electoral campaigns – ranging from Presidential down to County Executive -- in Michigan, Missouri, and California. He is based in Providence, Rhode Island.
Lori Dorsey, LICSW, LCDCS, is a person in long term recovery from alcohol, benzodiazepine, and opioid use disorders. She returned to school in her 30’s, when her recovery began, and worked for several community mental health and substance abuse treatment agencies, ultimately working for the RI Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals for 18 years.
She recently retired from her position with the RI Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals, but continues to maintain her private practice, which she has operated for 30 years. In addition, she works part-time as a clinician at AdCare in North Kingstown, in buildings where her own recovery journey began in 1988.
Her commitment to the field is evident through her 12-year tenure as the Women’s Services Network Coordinator under the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD). During this time, she also served for 5 years as the Women’s Services Network Regional Representative for the New England States.
She served as the Clinical and Recovery Supports Services Coordinator for the Rhode Island Access to Recovery grant, which was the state’s first substance use disorder (SUD) grant aimed at developing and introducing recovery support services for adults involved with the criminal justice system, as well as veterans and their families. Her experience includes serving as the Clinical Coordinator for both the Rhode Island Juvenile and Adult Drug Courts, where she was an integral member of the Drug Court Teams. She also held the Treatment Seat on the Rhode Island Certification Board for Chemical Dependency Professionals for nearly a decade. She worked extensively with clients struggling with substance abuse and severe, persistent psychiatric disorders as the Program Coordinator of a Community Mental Health Organization (CMHO) Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team.
Additionally, she has contributed her expertise by serving on the Boards of Directors for several community organizations. 35 years ago, she was invited to present to the Rhode Island Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, addressing issues of discrimination, treatment, and recovery for individuals with substance abuse disorders at a time when recovery was not openly acknowledged or discussed.
The following year, she became an Incorporator of Rhode Island Right to Recovery, a grassroots advocacy group for those in recovery, which later evolved into RICARES and received several awards and honors, including the National Association for State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors’ Women’s Services Network Leadership Award, the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhode Island Rally for Recovery Committee, the 2017 Rhode Island Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependence President’s Award, and the 2011 Social Worker of the Year in Addictions Award, NASW, RI Chapter
Robin Kamienny Montvilo received a B.A. degree in Psychology from Brooklyn College (CUNY), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Fordham University.
She then took a position as a Faculty member in the Psychology Department at Rhode Island College (July,1977). She completed her B.S. in Nursing at R.I.C in 1982 and began work at Women and Infants’ Hospital as an R.N. in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She worked there until her retirement from Nursing in 2012. In 2003, R.I. College became the first College in New England to graduate students with a B.S. degree in Chemical Dependency/Addiction Studies (CDAS). While continuing as a Full Professor in Psychology, Robin became director of the CDAS program. Under her leadership, this program has graduated over 200 students who are helping R.I. and surrounding states to deal with the Opioid Crisis.
In her 43 years at R.I.C., Robin authored over 100 articles and several book chapters in the fields of Psychology, Nursing, and Chemical Dependency and has edited a two-volume set on Addiction. She volunteered on the Medical Team of the Boston Marathon, served on the National Board of Directors of the Niemann-Pick Foundation, the Board of Directors for the National Association of Neonatal Nursing, the Board of Directors of the R.I. Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts, and the Board of Directors of the R.I.C. Alumni Association. Robin looks forward to continuing her work in these fields.