PHOENIX RECOVERY ACADEMY - Key Persons
Angela has nearly 30 years of experience in the biotechnology field. She is currently employed by AstraZeneca, within the biological organization, managing a team of thirteen operators responsible for the daily floor operations of the cell culture area delivering life-saving monoclonal antibodies worldwide. Angie provides experience in leadership and management, along with a passion to support everyone. The experience of losing several family members and friends to addiction drives her motivation to provide support for those seeking sobriety. Angie has a passion to provide a safe, supportive, and educational experience for teens seeking recovery.
Brenna graduated from Mount St. Mary's University with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. Her professional teaching experience began in a school focused on giving the best possible education to high school students with various mental and physical disabilities. This experience gives Brenna the ability to adapt to any teaching environment. Through her time teaching, she has found a passion to connect with students to make learning fun. Knowing how crucial the issue of substance use disorder is for young adults, she has been hands on in supporting the efforts to bring recovery options to our area. Brenna loves to be outside to hike, practices yoga, and enjoys traveling.
Emily is the owner-operator of the Emily Keller Insurance and Financial Agency - Farmers Insurance. Born and raised in Hagerstown, Emily is a 2004 graduate of South Hagerstown High School and is the proud mother of her 12-year-old daughter, Layla. She is active throughout the community, serving on many boards and is serving her first term as a Hagerstown City Councilwoman. She has a personal vested interest in advocating for small business owners and she extends her influence as a member of the Farmers Employees Agents Political Action Committee (FEAPAC), an advocacy organization that protects the interest of small business owners. Her passion includes advocating for heroin and opioid awareness and education in the community, so she serves as a chairperson for Washington Goes Purple, participates in Project Act Now, and the Washington County Senior Opioid Policy Group.
As a life-long resident of Frederick, Heather has always been motivated to help others in her community. Prior to her nonprofit work, she taught multiple grade levels in elementary education for Frederick County Public Schools for over 10 years. During her tenure with FCPS, she was an active member on the leadership team and lead, inspired, and motivated colleagues to effectively deliver instruction and increase student outcomes. Heather holds a Master's in Reading Specialization from Hood College, which provided her hands-on literacy experience at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
She believes a recovery high school is essential for our community to provide adolescents with individualized instruction and early recovery support for long-term sobriety. She is passionate about serving the recovery community and dedicated to assisting our youth for the prevention of adult substance use disorder.
Heather was awarded an Unsung Hero Do-Gooder Award in October 2020 for going above and beyond to facilitate and handle the day-to-day logistics of opening the doors of Phoenix Recovery Academy. She has assisted in raising over $500,000 in funding through grant writing and fundraising. Since 2018, Heather has served as the Administrative Assistant, while wearing many hats to ensure the success of our organization. In addition to her work with Phoenix, Heather volunteers her time in neighborhood schools, sports associations, and connects community agency resources for those in need.
Heather and her husband, Jonathan have four sons and a golden retriever. In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, camping, and being her boys #1 fan on the sports fields.
Nelson has served the community as a Circuit Court Judge in Montgomery County for over 22 years. Prior to his appointment to the Circuit Court, Judge Rupp was a District Court Judge for over three years. Judge Rupp's experience as a judge over the past 25 years is highlighted by his creation of the Montgomery County Circuit Court Adult Drug Treatment Court in 2004.
Job Titles:
- Academy & Community Relations Director
Jessica found her passion for helping others through her own personal journey of recovery. After getting sober, she began working in the substance abuse treatment field and volunteering her time to local nonprofits, as well as the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office. She would speak at area middle and high schools, sharing her personal experience, in hopes of educating others on the topic of substance use disorder. It was through those experiences and her interactions with the students, that she found her love for working with adolescents. She has worked in the field for a number of years now and has a wide range of experience that varies from Clinical Outreach, Admissions, Alumni, Case Management, and Peer Support. Jessica has been assisting the Phoenix Foundation of Maryland for years, participating on multiple committees and has continued her support with the opening of Phoenix Recovery Academy. She truly believes in the importance of establishing a nurturing environment of trust and support, in order for students to thrive. For her, she has found no greater fulfillment than being able to work hand in hand with adolescents and their families, while they are trying to navigate a new way of life. Jessica is a mother of two and loves spending time with her daughters and her fiancé, Sean, plus their two adopted fur babies named Harley and Asher. When she isn't running around from a work event or sports practice, she can be found connecting with her peers in her recovery community or on her back deck, swinging in her hammock.
John is an Alumnus of the nation's oldest recovery high school. From his enrollment at the Phoenix School in Montgomery County, Maryland, John has been active in recovery since July 5, 1989. Clean and sober at 17 years old, John has been fortunate enough to share his experience, strength and hope across the U.S. and Canada. More recently, John served on the Board of Association of Recovery and Education of Greater Washington (AREGW) in attempts to bring a recovery high school to the D.C. area.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Chief Counsel at the Frederick County State's Attorney 's Office
Joyce King is Chief Counsel at the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office. She is the Chief Prosecutor of the Frederick County Cybercrimes Taskforce and serves on the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. Ms. King is a board member for the National District Attorneys Association Digital Safety Advisory Board to combat online abuse, digital scams, human trafficking, and other technology related issues that impact public safety. She completed specialized Digital Evidence Training with the United States Secret Service National Computer Forensics Institute and is cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Department of Justice Project Safe Childhood.
In addition to prosecution, Ms. King manages operations and communications of the State's Attorney's Office, serves on the Legislative Committee for the Maryland State's Attorney Association, and provides legal counsel for multi-agency criminal justice policy initiatives and projects. Specifically, Ms. King is passionate about Problem Solving Courts and Diversion Program initiatives to fight crime while addressing addiction and mental health in the criminal justice system. She currently serves on the Frederick County Drug Treatment Court Team and Frederick County Overdose Fatality Review Team. Ms. King is an alumni of George Washington University, American University: Women & Politics Institute, and the David A. Clarke School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- President and CEO for Business & Financial Solutions, Inc
Larry is the President and CEO for Business & Financial Solutions, Inc. He holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Auburn University, with a focus in forensic accounting. Mr. Simmons also holds, from Auburn University, an MBA in Finance. Before founding Business & Financial Solutions in 2002, Mr. Simmons worked for Deloitte and Touché as the Director of Government Contracting and Nonprofit Services. In addition to his professional credentials, Mr. Simmons serves the community in various areas. He is the Chairman of the Board for Women Who Care Ministries, Inc., Executive Director for XYZ Services, Inc., both for which are Maryland nonprofit organizations. Mr. Simmons also serves as a Board Member for the Jamisons' Center of Kindness, Inc. in Texarkana, Arkansas, a nonprofit community outreach program.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Executive Director for Maryland Addiction Recovery Center
Sam Bierman is the Executive Director for Maryland Addiction Recovery Center. A graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Management, Sam started in the field as Counselor Assistant at Caron Renaissance in Boca Raton, Florida, eventually working his way up to Director of Operations for Caron Ocean Drive, Caron's program that a treatment program focusing on executive clientele. As Executive Director of MARC, Sam is responsible for overseeing the entire clinical and administrative operations of the organization. Sam's clinical philosophies center around developing a strong therapeutic alliance between the clinician and client, as well as treating addiction as a family disease. His entrepreneurial spirit has always led him on a personal mission: to open a treatment center where he can use his personal and professional experience to implement a clinically driven philosophy where the client's best interest is always the top priority, and Maryland Addiction Recovery Center has become that vision realized. Outside of his work at MARC, Sam also serves on the membership committee of NAATP, the board of directors of local non-profit Shalom Tikvah, and was named a Baltimore Business Journal's "40 Under 40" Class of 2019 honoring Baltimore's emerging business leaders.
Sean spent most of his life battling addiction. Since entering recovery, he has dedicated his life to serving the recovering community. Using his experience with nonprofit organizations in Frederick and surrounding areas, Sean recently facilitated a strategic partnership with Frederick County Public Schools to raise awareness and to educate middle and high school students about addiction and recovery. Sean is Executive Producer for Heroin's Grip, a documentary about the opioid crisis in Frederick County. Sean believes that recovery is possible and that people can change and do get better.
Stacy earned a BA degree from the University of Maryland. She has lived and worked in the community for over 30 years. Currently, running a top producing real estate team. Stacy's passion for helping those in recovery stems from the loss of her brother from a drug overdose. She believes that by helping others this might not happen to another family. Her business and personal relationships have allowed her the opportunities to build relationships that help her get others involved in giving back, as well. Stacy and her husband, Bob, have raised their children in Frederick County and she is very well known throughout the area for community involvement and volunteerism. Volunteering and giving back are a big part of what Stacy does in the community, including volunteering with Phoenix Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association, Toys for Tots, and many other charities. Stacy received Frederick County Association of Realtors 2018 Community Service Award and was recognized as a Frederick County "Do Gooder" for all that she does to give back to Frederick County.