Chief Executive Officer
Administrative Office: 775-738-4118
Fax: 775-738-2625
Email: dorothy@vitalitycenter.org
Cross-Functional Experience and Cross-Industry Experience
Highly qualified Chief Executive Officer with more than 25 years of proven leadership within diverse industries including: alcohol and drug rehabilitation, housing, and corrections rehabilitation. Results-focused and effectual leader with proven ability to develop and grow new programs. Talent for proactively identifying and resolving problems – controlling costs, maximizing productivity, and delivering projects on-time and within budget. Strengths in:
• Strategic Planning and Program Design, Development and Implementation
• Team Leadership and Collaboration
• Productivity Enhancement
• Profitability Improvement
• Cost Control Programs
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1977 - Present: Chief Executive Officer, Vitality Center – Elko, Nevada
A National Certified Addiction Counselor Level II, a Nevada Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, a Certified Employee Assistance Professional, a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, a Substance Abuse Professional, and a Certified Program Administrator, Dorothy B. North was recruited initially to lead an alcohol and drug rehabilitation program with an annual budget of $23,000. Since 1977 Dorothy B. North has grown Vitality Center into a facility with approximately $5.2 Million in assets and a $2.81 Million annual operating budget.
Key Results:
• Grew the program to include residential alcohol and drug rehabilitation for adults and adolescents and outpatient clinics located throughout rural Nevada.
• Established financial control, leading Vitality Center from an annual budget of $23,000 to a budget of $2.55 million for the year 2002. This equates to an average annual increase of 21.68%.
• Achieved a Dun & Bradstreet Rating of 3A1, with a financial condition rating of Strong, and assets of $2.98 million.
• Appointed by a Democratic Governor and served as Chair of the State of Nevada Commission on Substance Abuse Education, Prevention, Enforcement and Treatment for 8 years.
• Appointed by a Republican Governor and has served as the Chair of the State of Nevada Board of Examiners for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors since its inception.
• Received the first Capital Focus Award in 1993 for recognition of commitment and dedication to the Commission of Substance Education, Prevention, Enforcement, and Treatment.
• Received the 1997 Legislative Leadership Award from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving.
• Received the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Governor’s Commission on Substance Abuse Education, Prevention, Enforcement, and Treatment for outstanding performance and dedication to the field of substance abuse treatment.
• Received the 2002 John Chappel Award by The Nevada Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse for services, commitment and innovation in alcohol and drug prevention and treatment.
Expanded from drug and alcohol treatment to low-income housing in 1998 and to transitional housing in 1999.
Key Results:
• Built Pinion Apartments, a 13 unit low-income housing development in Elko, Nevada, in 1998.
• Opened Beyond 585 Sage Street, a transitional care housing facility in Elko, Nevada, in 1999.
• Opened Phoenix I, a transitional care facility in Sun Valley, Nevada, in 2000.
• Completed Mountain Shadows Apartments, a 24 unit low-income housing tax credit project in Elko, Nevada in 2001, bringing the project in on time and on budget.
• Opened 1174 Southside Drive, a Section 8 house in Elko, Nevada, in 2001.
• Opened Phoenix II, a transitional care facility in Sun Valley, Nevada, in 2001.
• Opened Phoenix III and Phoenix IV, transitional care facilities in Sun Valley, Nevada, in 2002.
• Serves the interests of all rural Nevada counties on the Advisory Committee for the Nevada Housing Division.
Developed and opened the Willing Inmates in Nevada Gaining Sobriety (WINGS) Program at the Warm Springs Correctional Institute in 1999. This program is not only an alcohol and drug rehabilitation program but also combines a program designed to help the inmates understand and overcome criminal thinking and behavior.
Key Results:
• Over 500 of the inmates successfully have complete the program and been released from prison. Of these 500 only 50 have returned to prison with only 9% of these being incarcerated for new crimes.
• Awarded a new 4 year contract for the WINGS program by the Nevada Department of Corrections in October 2002.
• Moved from the Warm Springs Correctional Institute to the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in November, 2002, in order to grow the program from 105 to 172 inmates.
Certifications & Licenses
Certified as a Program Administrator, State of Nevada
Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP)
Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (LADC)
Licensed as a National Addictions Counselor II (NCACII)
Substance Abuse Professional approved by DOT and FAA
Certified Professional Consultant to Management (CPCM)
Dorothy B. North has been in the substance abuse treatment field since 1974. In 1977, she became the Chief Executive Officer of an entity that became Vitality Center, a highly respected provider of comprehensive chemical dependency treatment services based in Elko, Nevada. She founded its outpatient satellite offices in 1987, its residential treatment program for adults in 1985, its residential treatment program for adolescents in 1990, and its drug testing component in 1993. Continuing Vitality Center’s search for new service gaps to fill, she led its expansion into the low-income and transitional housing arenas in 1995, and she founded its unique WINGS inmate treatment program in 1998.
North’s areas of expertise include counseling, administration, public speaking, program development, public housing, and the criminal justice system. She is a National Certified Addiction Counselor Level II (#6785), a Nevada Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (#00174-L), a Certified Employee Assistance Professional, a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, a Substance Abuse Professional, and a Certified Program Administrator (#114).
No stranger to public service, North served four terms as Chairman of Nevada's State Commission on Substance Abuse Education, Prevention, Enforcement and Treatment. She also chaired the Nevada State Substance Abuse Certification Advisory Board, and she was a member of the Nevada Uniform Crime Reporting Advisory Committee. Currently, she is second term Chairman of the State Board of Examiners for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors, and she is a working member of the Nevada Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Committee. She also represents the interests of all rural Nevada counties on the Advisory Committee for the Nevada Housing Division.
At the national level, North was a contract grant reviewer for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Washington, D.C., 1993, a contract facilitator on the consensus panel on detoxification at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1994, and a member of the Director's Panel on Rural Drug Abuse and Trafficking for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Her many awards include the first annual Capitol Focus Award in 1993 and the Legislative Leadership Award from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving in 1997.
