Board Secretary
Why did you join Thrive’s Board of Directors?
My desire to serve on the Thrive! Family Recovery Resources board is deep-rooted in my own family’s experience with addiction. After losing my brother, Brian, to a substance use disorder in 2017, it sparked a passion and purpose in me that grew into a new career path as well as the opportunity to join Thrive! as a board member. Through drawing on my own personal experiences as well as my role as a Family Recovery Coach, I help other family members discover their inner powers to restore relationships and find hope and healing to endure the journey where addiction is present.
In 2019, Laurie founded her coaching and education business, focused on providing education and support for individuals and families that have a loved one struggling with substance use challenges and disorders. In addition to being a Family Recovery Coach, she is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist credentialed by the Minnesota Certification Board, a certified CRAFT provider, and an active member of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. Prior to her coaching work, she spent 25 years in the field of sales and marketing, primarily for technology companies.
She is drawn to adventure travel, RV travel, international travel - just about any kind of travel. Laurie’s hobbies involve lots of outdoor water activities, trail-running and hiking, cooking, knitting, reading, and family time - especially in the northern regions of Minnesota.
Board Treasurer
Why did you join Thrive’s Board of Directors?
I began volunteering and attending a Thrive Family Recovery Resource in person group in 2017 while my son, Luke, was actively using substances. Thrive helped me connect and use loving well tools to have the closest possible relationship with Luke. After I lost Luke to an accidental overdose, I began facilitating an in person Thrive group to help families who are struggling with substance use challenges.
Professional bio:
Karrie is a Senior Administrative Assistant for Allina Health. Karrie and her husband serve as volunteer ministers in a nondenominational Christian ministry for over 30 years. Karrie has served on other nonprofit boards in Minnesota with a mission to help homeless and those with food insecurity.
Karrie is married to Stephen (45 years) and has 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren. Her hobbies include photography, making special occasion videos, camping, hiking, reading, and traveling.
Board Member
Joe Clubb, vice president of Allina Health’s Mental Health and Addiction Services, is charged with leading the strategy and setting the vision for this clinical service line. Joe has advanced a Mental Health and Addiction value stream strategy to progress clinical care and serve the growing needs of community members with mental illness and substance use disorders. He has brought mental health and addiction service lines to new levels, transforming addiction care, growing outpatient programs, and improving Emergency Department and inpatient flow through better access to outpatient services and increased inpatient capacity. Initiating community collaboration and partnership has been key to serving the needs of the whole person through his leadership.
Joe’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota with a clinical and administrative concentration.
Joe enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his spouse Anne, 7 children, their spouses, and his 6 grandchildren. He also enjoys traveling to warm climates during Minnesota winters.
Board Member
Cihan is well-known and regarded as a tech entrepreneur and has over 20 years of digital health startup experience from cloud-based clinical documentation systems to clinical outcomes data collection and analytics platforms. He also has eight years of financial and operational experience in the long-term care industry.
He led the first technology IPO of Turkey in 2000 and had his first technology startup experience in 2002. He oversaw product development and engineering teams and managed sales and marketing efforts. He started his own digital health startup company in 2009 with 2 partners and sold it to a CRO company in 2017.
He has been actively advising start-up founders since 2018 at Beta. Since June 2023 he has been the Executive Director of Beta. He earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota in Finance, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship.
Board Member
Carmichael Finn, known as "Finn," is the current Executive Director at Recovering Hope Treatment Center in Mora, Minnesota.
With over two decades of experience, Finn holds licenses as an alcohol and drug counselor in the State of Minnesota and a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. In addition to their leadership role, Finn serves as Adjunct Faculty at Metropolitan State University and Minneapolis College, where they teach in Alcohol and Drug Counseling programs. They are also the owner of Carmichael Finn LLC, specializing in teambuilding, training, and quality consultation for behavioral health organizations.
Finn's professional interests encompass advanced ethics, supervision, organizational and systems change, research, relational theories, and addiction and family dynamics. For more information, you can visit their website at www.carmichaelfinn.com.
In her role as Dean of the School of Education, Public and Human Service at Minneapolis College, Ann provides leadership to the Addiction Counseling Program. She is also, through her work at the college and through volunteer work, deeply committed to supporting justice impacted people. She sees a strong intersection in this work and believes in the importance of supporting people struggling with substance use disorder and those on their recovery journey, and also in providing support, resources, and hope to their family and loved ones.
She has seen first hand in those she works with, as well as in her own family, ways in which substance use disorder impacts so many people. She is honored to join the Board of Directors at Thrive and looks forward to making meaningful contributions to the important work this organization is doing for families.
Thrive! Family Recovery Resources is proud to announce the addition of Denise La Mere-Anderson, SHRM-SCP to our Board of Directors. Denise brings her expertise in Human Resource Management and Talent Acquisition in her role of Chief Talent Officer for Taylor Corporation, along with her experience as a public servant as a current member of the Golden Valley City Council.
Denise is a person with lived experience as a family member of someone in long-term recovery. "As someone who has directly benefited from the programs and services Thrive has to offer, I am passionate about what Thrive does and excited to give back to this organization in my role on the board of directors."
