We are very pleased to announce that New Directions for Women has found its new CEO: Elizabeth Steele, M.A., LAADC! Thank you to our staff, partners, friends, and supporters who have helped us during the difficult interim period of the past six months as we conducted an extensive national and local search to find Elizabeth.

Elizabeth recently celebrated 15 years of continuous recovery and is a product of women's treatment programming. Her lived experience elicit her passion for this life-changing work.

We're grateful to have Elizabeth at the helm as we continue our 45th year of fulfilling our mission of saving the lives of women of all ages, women with children and pregnant women affected by alcoholism, other addictions and related issues.

"From the moment I sat down for my first conversation with NDFW, I knew this was a special place.

There’s a sense of serenity and calm on the campus, which is not always the case at residential addiction treatment programs.

I’ll never forget our board members Dan Carracino and Jim Wilder sharing their passion for our mission. Jim also told me about the history of NDFW, which his mother Pamela Wilder was instrumental in.

The first time I toured the campus, the power of family recovery really hit me.

There was a two year old boy here and the nurse had put three band-aids on his leg. Of course, I was worried about what happened, and started talking to him.

It turns out, he hadn’t injured himself at all. He had just wanted some colorful band-aids on his fake little boo-boos! He was smiling and laughing with the nurses - having the time of his life.

It was one thing to conceptually talk about NDFW serving women and families. But the experience of having children live on the property is even more enriching than I could have even imagined. It changes the feel of the spaces. I love seeing little ones running around the property with their Moms and how much every patient and staff member loves up on them like Aunts. 

And at the same time, I recognize there have been many changes over the last six months. As the global pandemic and resulting mental health crises continued on, there has also been a challenging transition of several long-time staff members here at New Directions for Women.

While our current team has changed, the mission and vision has not. Over the next 90 days, we’re focused on strengthening our clinical program with additional trauma-informed training and enriching staff development.

I believe a good clinical decision is a good business decision, and see New Directions for Women serving women and their families for another 45 years and beyond.

I look forward to meeting you in the near future and thank you for your ongoing support."

-Elizabeth Steele, CEO