Our Team

Brent has worked as Executive Director of the Alano Club of Portland for the past decade, growing the organization into the largest non-clinical recovery support center in the United States.

Brent’s impact on the recovery landscape extends to the national level, where he holds leadership positions with the organizations Facing Addiction (National Action Council; Legislation Committee), Faces and Voices of Recovery (Public Policy Committee) and the Association of Recovery Community Organizations (Recovery Research Committee.)

Additionally, Brent has been recognized for his advocacy work by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s Institute For Recovery Advocacy and Viacom’s Here to Listen Campaign. In 2015, Brent served as Oregon Organizer for the UNITE to Face Addiction rally on the National Mall in Washington D.C., the largest recovery rally in the history of the United States. Brent was also on the ground in Philadelphia in the summer of 2016, helping organize the first Caucus For Addiction Solutions at the Democratic National Convention.

Prior to working in the recovery field, Brent held senior positions with nonprofits, public agencies and elected officials from City Hall to the U.S. Senate. Brent has a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from University of Oregon, where he was recognized for his academic achievement with a competitive Teaching Fellowship in the Graduate School of Planning, Public Policy and Management. Brent’s proudest accomplishment is simply being an individual and father in long-term recovery.

Brent Canode
Executive Director

In his own words, Kasey is a “gradually retiring songwriter” whose songs have been covered by Counting Crows, Star Anna and others.

In addition to his work at the Alano Club, Kasey has continued to write and record music — most recently working at Jackpot! Studios in Portland on an album to be released in September 2024 — and holds a Master of Arts in English and Literature and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. He is currently finishing another graduate program to receive a Master of Arts in Critical Studies. He promises that will be his last graduate degree. Probably.

Kasey Anderson
Deputy Director

Mykal has been with the club since fall of 2016. She is passionate about reducing the number of people involved in the carceral system and expanding the available options for recovery support in our community. Outside of work Mykal enjoys home food production and curating her collection of heritage apple trees.

Mykal Murphy
Operations Manager

Chelsea joined the Alano Club in the spring of 2023. Chelsea credits the connections she’s made during her time in recovery as the key component that allowed her to step fully into her healing. She is honored to help peers develop their own community—their own cheering section, to discover what recovery looks and feels like for them. She is a certified Peer Wellness Specialist and draws on the power of self-compassion to help others identify what inner and outer resources they need to make healthy changes. Chelsea fills her free time with hiking, writing poetry, and couch surfing with her oldie pug.

Chelsea Querner
Development Director

Jack joined the Alano Club team in the summer of 2022. After spending 2 years working as a mentor in a residential setting, he decided to try the PeerConnect approach towards working with people in recovery and in the community. Jack grew up in NW Portland and found his own recovery at the Alano club. He is a Certified Recovery Mentor and has a Bachelors degree in Outdoor Adventure Leadership from Southern Oregon University. While he continues to build experience in mentoring and supporting people in recovery, he would one day like to use outdoor recreation and wilderness settings to help and encourage people to grow and to engage in their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Jack Pfeiffer
Recovery Services Director

Dion is a member of the Confederated Tribes of The Umatilla Indian Reservation. He has been living in the Portland area for 3 years, he moved here for treatment. His recovery date is 10/09/2019, he first found CrossFit on 02/10/2020 he was 4 months clean at the time. Dion's daughter Rory was only 2 months old. She was the main reason he stepped foot into the gym and continues to drive his purpose each day. 

Dion knows how impactful CrossFit can be to someone's life and he is super passionate when it comes to helping others find strength for their recovery inside of the gym. Eventually he plans on opening a gym on the reservation where he grew up to help indigenous people take their health back while using CrossFit as the vehicle. 

He currently has his L1, CRM, & Burgener level one. Dion has big goals of earning an L3 along with all the CEU's that come with that. Outside of the gym Dion really enjoys spending time with his daughter Rory. He loves hunting, fishing, and wood cutting. Dion loves to work hard and eat good. He hopes to see you in the gym soon!

Dion Denny
Program Director
The Recovery Gym

2023 Skidmore Prize Winner Ellen Wirshup launched Project RED with Alano in August of 2022 after spending several months distributing Narcan to bars, restaurants and other establishments on foot, in her spare time away from her job in the service industry. A longtime food and beverage industry veteran, Ellen felt compelled to increase awareness of and access to overdose prevention supplies and materials in the wake of losing close friends to accidental overdose. In a little over a year, Project RED has expanded to serve not just bars, restaurants and music venues, but all manner of private establishments, schools, community based mutual aid organizations and, through a partnership with NEXT Distro, individuals facing barriers to access throughout Oregon.

Ellen Wirshup
Program Director
Project RED

Hailey is a hospitality veteran with a passion for creating community and connecting people. She is a Certified Recovery Mentor, and a National Board Member and Co-Chair of the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends, a non-profit dedicated to helping individuals in the Food & Beverage industry find sobriety and community. 

When she's not working, you can find her longboarding around town, trying all the non-alcoholic drinks and tasty snacks.

Hailey Hosler
Program Coordinator
Recovery Toolkit Series

Ryan Schmidt does not have a bio available at this time but he will be happy to chat with you if you come by the office!

Ryan Schmidt
Office Manager

Amanda began working at the Alano Club of Portland in the Fall of 2019. She is an Alumni of Oxford Sober Living, where she served as a Chapter 3 Officer. During this time Amanda helped open a women's sober living house that allowed children to stay with their mothers. The determination to serve others has driven her to be a Peer Support Specialist/Certified Recovery Mentor. Amanda follows a mindfulness-based approach in her recovery and practices a holistic lifestyle. In Amanda's downtime, she enjoys visiting all the hot springs in the PNW and spending time with her partner and their daughter.

Amanda Bailey
Peer Mentor

Farah joined the Alano Club team in November 2020. Her passion for empowering others drives her work as a peer mentor, where she strives to support individuals in discovering their unique pathways in recovery. Farah focuses on holistic dual diagnosis recovery pathways that emphasize spirituality and self-care. In her free time, she likes to journal, make art, and hang with the Alano parking lot cats.

Farah Haidari
Peer Mentor

Robbie started working in the recovery field in 2018 at a Residential Recovery Center. He then became a Certified Recovery Mentor and worked with peers who were on Probation or Parole in Clackamas County. Robbie was born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon and found his recovery right here in the heart and soul of Downtown Portland, Oregon. While attending his first residential treatment facility, he and his peers would walk to the Alano Club for recovery meetings. The Alano Club of Portland was where he attended his first meeting, which provided a stepping stone and a great start to his personal recovery journey. Helping others comes naturally for Robbie, as he truly feels it is not just a job but a way to remain grateful and to stay in the middle of his own recovery. Robbie believes that everyone deserves to have someone walk side by side with them in times of need and to be there to celebrate successes, big and small. He is someone who has empathy for those that are struggling through the most daunting times in their lives and he is someone who will be right there, without judgment, so no one has to ever do their recovery alone.

Robbie Prouty
Peer Mentor

Ly joined the Alano Club in the fall of 2023 and had several years of harm reduction experience working with Portland's houseless population through several different organizations beforehand. Ly started working at the desk and quickly became a Recovery Support Specialist/Certified Peer Mentor as they found they have a love of sharing recovery journeys with their peers. Ly believes there is no one right recovery pathway and focuses on supporting their peers in discovering what works best for them. When they're not working, you can find Ly in the woods with their dog, chickens, and goats or at home making art, writing, or drinking tea and reading.  Ly has a bachelor's degree but hopes to return to school to get their Certified Alcohol and Drug Counseling license and continue their work in recovery services that way.

Ly Villman
Peer Mentor

Kaya started working with the Alano Club in the Spring of 2024. Kaya began her recovery in 2019 while studying Creative Writing and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon. There she was introduced to writing as a tool for healing intergenerational trauma and the transformative power of telling stories. Since then, she has become passionate about bringing trauma-informed care and harm reduction to education and art spaces in her hometown of Portland. She is a writer of essays and art criticism currently pursuing an MA in Critical Studies at PNCA.

Kaya Noteboom
Program Assistant

 

Board of Directors

 

Jonathan Wadman

Board President
Retired

 

Allie Foote

VP of Finance
Portland Trail Blazers

 

Dr. Ron Schutz

CEO
Blacktoe Medical

Kaveh Akbar

Poetry Editor
The Nation
Faculty
University of Iowa

 

Gregory Gourdet

Owner / Executive Chef
Kaan

 

Yassine Diboun

Owner / Lead Coach
Wy’East Wolfpack

 

Ann Highet

Board of Trustees
Hazelden Betty Ford

William Dörrie

Program Coodrinator
Transition Projects

 

Marilu Reid

Retired