Meet The Team
Jodie Altman
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jodie Altman has worked in the addiction field with adolescents for over 35 years. Jodie has been with the campus for many years fulfilling leadership roles as the Campus Director and Deputy Director prior to her role as the Executive Director.
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Along with her work on the Campus, Ms. Altman served from 2007 through 2013 as a Court Liaison with Amherst Drug Court. In 2012, she was named the Counselor of the Year by the Amherst Drug Court and Therapeutic Foundation.
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Early in her career, she worked for three years for BryLin Hospital, as a Family Therapist, a Senior Clinician, and finally as the Adolescent Supervisor in their Chemical Dependency Unit.
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Jodie is a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Masters of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling from Syracuse University.
Robin Clouden
Director Emeritus
Robin comes from a strong finance and banking background. She worked at numerous banks in Western New York. Her finance career began in 1982 at Buffalo Savings Bank. From there, she worked at Goldome Reality Credit Corp. in 1986.
After 18 years, Robin began working at Sgroi Financial LLC. She began her career at Kids Escaping Drugs in 2001 as a volunteer with her family. She saw the benefits of her teenage children coming to the Campus to educate them about the dangers and consequences of substance abuse and addiction.
In 2007, Robin became the Volunteer Coordinator at Kids Escaping Drugs, and was quickly promoted to Finance Director. In 2012, Robin became the Executive Director of Kids Escaping Drugs.
In 2014, when Renaissance Addiction Services Inc. was established, Robin became Executive Director of both KED and RASI. Robin is a member of the Erie County Opioid Task Force.
Dana McPhaden
Marketing & Events Director
Dana is the Marketing & Events Director at KED. She'll be working to create marketing material to strengthen the impact of KED. She also takes great pride in organizing KED's annual events that create awareness for KED and important financial support.
She has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from Buffalo State College in Communication Design. While attending, she received the James Lombardo Sr. Award for Excellence and quickly launched her own freelancing career. Her specialty was working with local non-profits and mom & pop businesses.
Before working at KED, Dana was the Program Director for a non-profit arts organization called Locust Street Art. There she was able to oversee their free arts programming and build their workshop and camps offerings. Locust Street Art won “Best Art Classes” for 2021, 2022 of which she is very proud of.
Wanting to contribute to youth in a larger capacity, she landed at KED. Her favorite part about working for KED is seeing the impact of KED's services on a daily basis.
Outside of work she’s obsessed over obsolete inventions of yesteryear, her two cats, national parks and photography.
Katherine Pappas
Administrative Coordinator
Katherine graduated from Hilbert College in May of 2023 with a bachelor’s in Human Services. She started as an intern at KED. She was in another major and quickly realized after seeing a presentation from KED that she was in the wrong major. Her senior year she interned at KED and was then offered the administrative coordinator position.
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Katherine enjoys being able to see different aspects of the office and helping in any way I can. She enjoys contributing towards KED's annual events, but also being able to always learn more and be given more to work on as time moves forward.
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Katherine is passionate about her role at KED and knows helping the team helps the WNY community. She enjoys the camaraderie in the office at KED. Not only is the environment very welcoming , but there is an immense amount of support. When she's not at work, she enjoys reading, going to the movies and making memories with family and friends.
Ashley Gedra
Face2Face Program Coordinator
Ashley is a Face2Face Program Specialist at Kids Escaping Drugs. In her current role, she provides both education as well as community outreach to local youth through Peer2Peer Panel Presentations at schools, and Early Interventions for at risk youth.
Prior to joining KED, she spent seven years as both a staff trainer and direct support professional for a non-profit agency that serves developmentally and intellectually disabled adults, as well as many years as both a volunteer and paid EMT.
Ashley is a 2008 graduate of Frontier High School and has remained in the area to raise her family. Ashley began working at Kids Escaping Drugs in January of 2022 and has enjoyed every day. Interacting with the youth both on the campus and in the community is enjoyable and fulfilling. She hopes her passion and enthusiasm comes across in the presentations and Early Interventions she conducts and is able to make a difference in someone's life.
Mikayla Martin
Face2Face Program Specialist
Mikayla is a Face2Face Program Specialist at Kids Escaping Drugs. In her current role, she provides both education and community outreach to local youth as well as provides the Back2Basics program to impart key resiliency skills to at risk youth ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.
Mikayla came into working for Kids Escaping Drugs driven by the passion for making a positive impact in the lives of youth in different communities. Her goal is to empower youth to create positive change, therefore leaving a lasting impact on the communities she serves.
Mikayla grew up in Chautauqua Lake and graduated in 2018. Moving to Buffalo she received her Associates in Science at Erie Community College and is pursuing further education in Social Work. During her free time she finds interest in creating new positive experiences and making art.
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Amber Brown
Face2Face Program Specialist
After a successful career in banking and experiencing the profound journey of motherhood, Amber followed her passion and transitioned into youth supportive services.
With an analytical and customer service mindset, motherhood deepened her understanding of the needs and challenges faced by young people. Amber began her restorative journey with Best Self Behavior Health in Buffalo Public Schools and as a volunteer with the Buffalo Funk Fest Foundation servicing 5/14 Jefferson Ave community.
Amber earned her Certified Recovery Peer Advocate certification with IHN Outreach and partnered with the Reimagine: I am the change alongside the Office of Mental Health to "Bring New Life to a Community in Recovery!" Accountability is restorative!
Lindsey Litzinger
SFC Director
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Lindsey has been working in the OPWDD & Mental Health field for the last decade while obtaining her
Master of Social Work. During this time, Lindsey has been working in a variety of roles in the health field, which have allowed her to engage with the community in order to empower individuals to be an advocate for their own health and mental health. Prior to joining our team, she worked as a Clinical Crisis Coordinator, providing clinical assessments and crisis management assistance while educating and training families, schools, residential facilities, day habs and hospitals in Western NY and the surrounding areas.
Throughout Lindsey's professional experience she has remained passionate and committed to providing adolescents and their families the highest standard of care health and
keeping the community informed, so they feel confident in making the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Her commitment for providing adolescents and their families the skills, tools, and resources they need has brought her here to KED and the Substance Free Coalition, where she is excited to be out in the community to continue her passions. She is most excited to be engaging with the community, especially youths and parents, to help reshape the stigma around substance use through educational community connections.
Outside of work, Lindsey enjoys spending her time hiking, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Danielle Roberts
SFC/KED Outreach Assistant
Danielle is the SFC Coalition Assistant and is honored to work alongside a dedicated team of individuals on social media, community outreach, and events. She graduated from Daemen University in 2023 with a degree in Business Administration. Danielle has always known she wanted to work towards making a difference in the lives of others and is excited to see the impact of KED and the Coalition continue to grow!
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In her free time she enjoys traveling, music, reading, and spending time with friends and family.