ELAINE APPEL hails from the greater Boston area and graduated from the New England School of Art and Design. She also attended Boston College, taking courses in Business Administration and Psychology before becoming a sales executive. This background, along with her personal history of recovery, enabled her to become a volunteer, a meeting facilitator, and SMART’s first regional coordinator in New England, all in rapid succession. She served as regional coordinator for ten years and become a member of the Board of Directors in 2004. Ms. Appel later relocated to Columbia, South Carolina where she continues to bring to the SMART Board of Directors outstanding experience in community organization, activism, and charitable work. She has particular expertise in the formation of nonprofit organizations, including the drafting of operational documents such as bylaws.

MICHELLE ELKINS received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Pepperdine University located in Malibu, California. Ms. Elkins held various roles of increasing responsibility at a large multinational conglomerate, her last role as Director of Information Technology. Her expertise stems from over twenty years of experience in all aspects of information technology, including executive decision support, large-scale project management, continuous process improvements, disaster recovery, business continuity, P&L control, budgeting, vendor contracts, and staff management. She has consistently applied her focus on technology innovation and best-practice operational structures to contribute significant value and ROI in key leadership roles. She became involved in SMART Recovery in December 2013 and then became a SMART online facilitator. In addition to facilitating weekly meetings, she is helping SMART improve their technology platforms in order to better serve the SMART online community.

TIMOTHY (TIM) EDDY earned his PhD in Psychology from the State University of New York at Albany, specializing in comparative and evolutionary psychology. He is currently an  associate professor of psychology at Salem State University in Massachusetts where he teaches introductory psychology and evolutionary psychology. Dr. Eddy has published articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has current research interests in the interactions of humans and animals. He also has served as a reviewer in academic journals including Behavioral and Brain Sciences, published by Cambridge University Press and Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science. A participant in SMART Recovery since 2012, Dr. Eddy quickly became a volunteer as well. He now facilitates two meetings per week and frequently fills in for others when facilitators are unavailable.

WILLIAM (BILL) GREER, earned a BA cum laude from Lawrence University and an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Bill has forty years of leadership and communications experience in the nonprofit sector as a communications executive for the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and SmithBucklin, North America’s largest nonprofit association management firm. He authored the FMI Communications Manual and chapters on communications and information technology for SmithBucklin’s Complete Guide to Nonprofit Management. As regional coordinator for the Washington, DC to Virginia corridor, he has promoted the SMART program at Veterans Administration and other military facilities, prisons, drug courts, and high schools. He has facilitated SMART meetings for people recovering from addictions, Family & Friends meetings, and InsideOut meetings for correctional facilities. Mr. Greer has served on SMART’s Court Outreach Committee since 2013. He has provided communications counsel to the national office to spotlight meeting growth and promote SMART programs. He joined the SMART Board of Directors in 2017 to elaborate strategic communications policy and assist in the development of communications practices to support, sustain, and accelerate meeting growth.

THOMAS (TOM) HORVATH, is a founding board member of SMART Recovery. A graduate of St. Johns College, he went on to earn a PhD from the California School of Professional Psychology at San Diego. After serving as an active duty Navy psychologist for three years, he established a practice as a clinical psychologist. In 1985 he founded Practical Recovery, which offers a self-empowering alternative to 12-step and disease-oriented addiction treatment. Dr. Horvath is past president and fellow of the San Diego Psychological Association. In 2015 he received their Distinguished Contribution to Psychology award. He was appointed by Speaker Willie Brown in 1992 to the California Controlled Substances Prescription Advisory Council, which produced recommendations regarding California’s triplicate prescription program for controlled substances. Dr. Horvath was elected in 2016 as a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA). He is a past president of the APA Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50), the world’s largest organization of addictive behavior psychologists. He has taught graduate school substance misuse courses since 2010 and is the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions.

ROBERT MCDONOUGH is the Senior Research Manager of Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor with over $7 billion in assets under management. He leads the Advisory Services practice which serves the investment, risk management, and capital markets needs of financial institutions. He manages client engagements which include investment portfolio risk and performance assessments. Rob coordinates Angel Oak’s research and publication activities on a variety of financial and risk management topics. He also develops and delivers technical training and executive education. He has over 25 years’ experience leading risk management consulting engagements and delivering training seminars for financial institutions, central banks and government-sponsored enterprises around the world. Rob founded Strategic Financial Solutions, Inc., a risk management consultancy, in 2001. He previously was a senior manager with Andersen Consulting’s Financial Services practice. He also served in the Federal Reserve System for 12 years in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Rob earned an M.B.A. in Finance and Economics from Georgia State University and a B.B.A. from Emory University. His personal recovery journey gives him a passionate desire to give back to the recovery community in a variety of ways. In addition to his Board responsibilities, Rob brings to bear his financial and investment experience on the SMART Finance Committee. He also co-facilitates a SMART meeting in Atlanta.

HAROLD (HANK) ROBB earned his PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska. He served as director of counseling and
associate professor of psychology at Lewis-Clark State College for eight years before moving to Oregon and establishing a private practice. Dr. Robb is board-certified in both counseling psychology and cognitive and behavioral psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He also holds a certificate of proficiency in the treatment of alcohol and other psychoactive substance use disorders from the APA College of Professional Psychology. Dr. Robb is a past president of the American Board of Counseling Psychology who widely publishes professional articles and book chapters on psychological issues, and is a frequent presenter at professional meetings in the United States and abroad. Currently, he is an associate fellow and supervisor of the Albert Ellis Institute, a peer-reviewed trainer for acceptance and commitment therapy, and a fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. Dr. Robb is a founding board member of SMART Recovery, continues as a professional advisor to its local groups, and as a columnist for the organization’s quarterly publication, News & Views. He returned to the Board in 2015 has chaired ad hoc committees since his return.

ANTHONY (TONY) WALES was employed as a qualified chartered accountant with the firm, KPMG, for 12 years. He formed his own accountancy practice in 1974, which he grew to employ 60 staff members. He joined Computershare Ltd and took a major interest in the company in 1980, becoming its finance controller through 1989, then executive finance director. Mr. Wales took the company public on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1994, then internationally in 1997. He retired from his leadership role in Computershare Ltd three years later. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. Post-retirement, Mr. Wales has been extensively involved in philanthropy and his family foundation. He joined the SMART Recovery Board in 2007 and was instrumental in creating the SMART Recovery Australia in that year. He has remained on the Board as SMART Recovery Australia’s representative and is a member of the SMART Recovery International Transition Team.