FORMER BOARD MEMBERS

Jenny Westlund

Jenny currently has a son attending P.E.A.S.E. Academy as a senior. Through their family’s journey with substance use disorder and the support they all found at P.E.A.S.E Academy, she joined the board to find ways to further support P.E.A.S.E. through the Community Foundation.

Jenny is passionate about being a part of expanding recovery support to adolescents and their families!

Maggie Hiniker

Maggie has been a part of the P.E.A.S.E. community since 2017. Now working as an occupational therapist, she has a strong passion for health equity and advocacy for increased access to quality recovery resources for adolescents and their families.

Gabe Stumme

Gabe, a 2011 graduate of P.E.A.S.E, continued his education at Augsburg University as part of the Step-Up program. After graduating in 2015, he ventured to Michigan, where he assisted in establishing the first collegiate recovery program at Central Michigan University. Since returning to Minneapolis in 2018, Gabe has taken on various director roles within housing organizations. Currently, he has embraced a new challenge as an Estimator in the construction industry. Having found recovery at a young age, Gabe is passionate about making that opportunity accessible to others and believes in PEASE as one of the most effective ways to make that possible.

Amy Stephan

Amy became interested and active in the recovery community at the same time her teenage son was going through treatment and early recovery. They found P.E.A.S.E. Academy during her son’s senior year and it was exactly the environment he needed to successfully complete high school while maintaining his sobriety. The staff were advocates for him and their family and they are grateful for the experience they had. Amy believes this unique environment for learning helps create a safe and nurturing place for high school students who are in recovery so that they can successfully move through their education and onto the next phase in life.

Amy enjoys her role as secretary of the board, and actively participating in ways to improve and sustain P.E.A.S.E. Academy’s mission now and for the future. In addition, she is a speaker at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation family program on a regular basis, a board member of The Sandwich Project of MN, and an active contributor and a member of her local Al-Anon group. Professionally, Amy is a marketing and outreach director for Family Recovery Resource Experts (FRrē) in St. Paul, MN.

Pete Klink

Pete was a 2007 graduate of P.E.A.S.E. Academy. He started at P.E.A.S.E. the 2nd semester of his junior year. Over the next summer, he had relapsed and started back at his original high school where he only lasted two weeks. Pete decided to get sober again and went back at P.E.A.S.E. Academy. Pete states that he would not be where he is today without having attended P.E.A.S.E. and is still friends with students he graduated with 10 years ago. He feels honored to be a part of the P.E.A.S.E. Community Foundation Board.

Andrea Suker

Working as an alcohol and drug counselor with adolescents since 2007, Andrea has a passion for helping youth and their families connect with resources that can enhance their journey. She was introduced to P.E.A.S.E. while working as a counselor in a long-term adolescent residential chemical dependency treatment center and is excited to be a part of P.E.A.S.E. Community Foundation. Currently, Andrea works as the Adolescent Chemical Dependency Clinical Manager at Nystrom and Associates, Ltd., providing outpatient mental and chemical health services.

Jake Lewis

Jake Lewis graduated from The College of Saint Scholastica in 2009 and was part of starting the CLEAN Recovery Program on campus. CLEAN is a collegiate recovery program serving students in the Twin Ports of Minnesota in their path to recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction. During his work at CLEAN, Jake crossed paths with P.E.A.S.E Academy in 2010 and was moved by the mission and work being done. He is honored and excited to be a part of spreading the word and supporting the P.E.A.S.E Community Foundation. Jake currently does marketing for The Retreat, a 12 step based emersion program, in Wayzata.

Jeff Rissman

Jeff has been an educator in the Saint Paul Public Schools for over 30 years, and has a son and a daughter who each graduated from P.E.A.S.E. His personal and professional experience has helped him appreciate the invaluable role PEASE plays in providing critical support for young people in recovery as they work to be successful students and earn a high school diploma. Impressed by how the school successfully manages to be serious about both recovery and academics, he wants to help ensure that all those who can benefit from P.E.A.S.E. Academy are aware of it and the great program that it offers.

Kris Kelly

For Kris, being a member of the P.E.A.S.E. Community Board allows her to use her expertise working with recovery communities and peer recovery support services to ensure students have access to an educational experience that supports their recovery. Kris is a woman in long-term recovery and a Project Manager at the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence. She works with national, state, and local stakeholders to expand the continuum of care for individuals experiencing substance use challenges.

Tim Palmer

The P.E.A.S.E. Community Foundation board is one way Tim gave back in gratitude for the awesome support network that helps his son with his recovery. Tim fully believes in the need for the P.E.A.S.E. community as an organization where adolescents can feel safe, accepted, and encouraged to achieve their full potential. P.E.A.S.E. brings the power of community into the recovery process.