Alpha Team

The Short
Nico Doorn serves as Executive Director, guiding our vision, values, and culture. Nico views his personal mission as creating healing communities and has been pursuing this goal for over a dozen years as a mental health professional. He has three kids, a fiery wife, and is guaranteed to mention his love for running within five minutes of meeting.

The Long
Nico was born in ‘s Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, but grew up in North Carolina. His multicultural upbringing, as well as being raised in a split household as an only child, made Nico an observant and curious person. After struggling with severe mental health and addiction issues as a teen, he sought to answer the question he had long been pondering: How do you become truly happy?

Upon finding sustained recovery at age twenty, with only a ninth-grade education, Nico decided he needed to make some changes. He embraced a welcoming recovery community, learned how to hold a job, and decided to pursue a college education.

Ultimately, Nico went on to graduate as valedictorian with a BA in Psychology from Lipscomb University and with highest honors with an M.Ed. in Human Development Studies from Vanderbilt University, both in Nashville, Tennessee. Nico has held roles ranging from clinical care and admissions to business development and executive leadership, developing multiple young adult programs for residential treatment centers, outpatient treatment centers, and college campuses. He serves on the board for the Young Adult Transition Association, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers’ conference committee, and gave a TEDx talk.

Today, Nico takes incredible pride in ensuring every family Alpha serves is warmly welcomed into our community. Nico is obsessed with his three kids Aedin (15), Bodhi (3), and Lhotse (1), as well as running. He’s completed multiple marathons and ultramarathons and leads The Outliers, a run club supporting mental health here in Austin. He’s found his answer to how to become truly happy: challenge yourself to be your best every day while surrounded by people that love you.

The Short:

Wes Ward, a founding team member at Alpha, is responsible for all administrative functions of the company including finance, human resources, and operations. Wes has worked in the addiction treatment field for the past fifteen years and is passionate about helping people get well and go on to lead incredible lives. Wes lives in Austin with his wife Veronica and their son Wilder.

The Long:

Wes grew up in Texas with his parents and older brother. Wes’s teenage years were primarily spent struggling with substance use. At the age of 18, he was given the option to go to treatment and, thankfully, not only decided to go, but embraced recovery. Wes spent the next ten years balancing recovery, work, and school. He graduated from Schreiner University with a B.A. in Humanities and then received his M.B.A. with a focus in Human Resources Management from Texas State University. Soon after graduating, he started working with Bobby, Nico and the rest of the team to create the Alpha program.

While Wes was in college, it felt like a job, and his community were his friends in recovery outside of school. Going to college in recovery should not be an isolating experience. He wanted to create a space where individuals could find purpose, achieve their goals, and feel a part of a group of like-minded friends. Wes is passionate about organizational health, work/life balance, and staff development. He spends the time he is not at Alpha with his wife Veronica, in architecture, and his toddler Wilder, in demolition. Wes likes traveling to places with mountains and collecting hobbies.

The Short:
Elizabeth Rolfe oversees client care, family services, and our clinical and residential staff. She is regularly at the office with her miniature Pomerianian, Birdie. They both support clients, staff, and anyone who barges into their office. Elizabeth enjoys exercising, spending time with her family, and camping.

The Long:

Elizabeth was born in Louisiana and was raised in Pueblo, Colorado. She has two younger brothers and had an amazing childhood filled with love, animals, the outdoors, and adventures. Despite a wonderful upbringing, Elizabeth found herself in residential treatment at the age of 17. Her family supported her recovery and provided her with a long-term treatment experience from which she has been sober since. During this time, she identified a deep passion for wellness and helping others heal. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX. Subsequently, she moved back to Colorado to pursue her Masters in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and Art Therapy from Naropa University in Boulder. Elizabeth has worked in a variety of therapeutic settings. These settings include community mental health, judicial, residential, outpatient, and sober living. She began working at Alpha 180 in May 2021 after seven years as the Men’s Program Manager and Clinical Director for another local treatment center. She is trained in Art Therapy and EMDR. She is passionate about young adult recovery, staff culture, supervision, and empowering clients and staff to discover and fulfill their potential.

During her academic and career growth, she has balanced a personal life that has flourished into a small family. She has improved and maintained relationships with her parents and brothers, watched several extended and direct family members find sobriety, and has enjoyed ongoing personal growth and development. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, two daughters, and dog Birdie. In their free time they enjoy going on trips, playing, and making art.

The Short:

Mike McCabe is a Primary Therapist and uses Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and Attachment Theory principles to inspire transformation in the lives of the young men he works with. He is also passionate about wilderness therapy, and incorporating creative, vulnerability-inducing therapeutic interventions. Mike loves hiking with his wife and their two dogs and watching both kinds of football.

The Long:

Mike was born in Richmond, VA and grew up in a deli that his parents owned and operated. He was raised on a love of sports, playing football and lacrosse, and was obsessed with Halo. In high school and college, Mike dealt with depression and anxiety, and self-medicated with a series of unhealthy behaviors. It wasn’t until he lived and worked in Spain the year after graduating college that he began to form a sense of who he was apart from his familial, social, and societal definitions.

Mike has always been a musician, from singing in the church choir as a kid to playing SXSW official showcases. He moved to Austin in 2015 to pursue music, but ended up meeting the love of his life, Alyssa, and working as an eighth-grade English teacher. Music took them back to the East Coast, where Mike worked a dozen day jobs, from commercial real estate project manager to concert producer to educational software developer. The grind of trying to “make it” eventually led Mike to a mental health breakdown/spiritual awakening, where he gave his life over to his Higher Power and realized his dreams of being a counselor and mentor to young men. Mike, Alyssa, and their Boston Terrier, Hugo, and their husky/shepherd mix, Tennessee Jed, moved back to Austin in May 2020, and Mike completed his Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Mike loves working in substance use counseling because it is perhaps the one space in our society where men can be vulnerable and raw with one another.

The Short:

Amanda Allard started work at Alpha as an Art Therapy intern from Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College. Her passion for making art and finding beauty in life led her on a path to helping individuals with addictions and the loved ones of those with addictions. Amanda creates art, finds ways to be in the Texas sunshine, and researches magic, monsters, and life with her 6-year old daughter.

The Long:

Amanda is “Navy Brat,” born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but considers her heart’s home to be Gainesville, Florida. She started at the University of Florida as an architecture student, and ended up with degrees in History and Criminology & Law. She continued her graduate studies in History of Science at Florida. Amanda has been teaching history to all ages since 2007. In 2018, she returned to a first love of creating with her hands, and entered the Master of Art Therapy Program at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College, a hybrid program out of Indiana.

One of Amanda’s mantras is “because survival is insufficient,” a central theme of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. This is her reminder that life is awe-some and worth living. It also reminds her of what she should do while living: find the beauty and make the beauty. Scientists might say that humans have families because they want parts of themselves to survive beyond them. Amanda believes that humans need more than that; we need beautiful things even when the world seems ugly, frightening, and difficult. Amanda found Alpha’s message to “Inspire Transformation” to hold the same meaning and purpose that she seeks in her own life.

The Short:

Dantley Robison leads the Alpha Launch Program, which assists clients in accomplishing their academic, financial, and employment goals. He enjoys traveling the globe with his wife and daughter, trying to figure out crossword puzzles and maintaining a healthy body & mind. Dantley and his family live in Austin, TX.

The Long:

Dantley spent his first 21 years in small-town Indiana, but has considered Austin his home for the last 13 years. In leading the Alpha Launch Program, Dantley meets with clients to help them set their individual academic, financial and/or employment goals. He coaches them through the logistical and mental hurdles that arise and provides them with necessary resources to attain these objectives. Dantley ensures that every client who passes through Alpha departs with essential life skills that keep them on the path towards wellness and fulfillment.

Having taken a winding path in life, he knows the value in setting goals and taking incremental steps to achieve them. Personally, he’s been witness to hard work paying off as a first-generation college student and a graduate from St. Edward’s University with a BA in Sociology. His passion toward addiction recovery and helping others become the best version of themselves has led him to the Alpha community and treating chemical dependency. Dantley enjoys quality time with his wife, Sarah, daughter, Ophelia, and English Bulldog, Chowder. You can often find him visiting hidden gems of the world, enjoying smoothies from Juiceland, or laughing at dad jokes.

The Short:

Moore Woltz serves as the Admissions and Outreach Coordinator at Alpha 180. Originally from North Carolina, Moore currently lives in Austin, TX. He enjoys skiing, hiking, traveling, beachin’ it, and stand-up comedy.

The Long:

Moore was born in Mount Airy, NC (literally the town Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show was based on). He attended boarding school in rural Virginia before starting at N.C. State in Raleigh. During that time, Moore’s education was disrupted due to active addiction. He completed residential treatment in California and moved to Del Ray Beach, FL for sober living. Moore worked his first sober job as a scuba dive guide in West Palm Beach. He transferred to the University of Colorado in Boulder where he majored in Political Science. Moore worked in Washington, DC briefly before falling victim to active addiction yet again. He moved to Nashville, TN early in 2018 and has been sober since. He is a proponent of 12-step men’s meetings, where he learned about honesty and accountability, as well as the importance of living “in the moment.” Moore began his career at Alpha in May of 2021 as a case manager in our Launch Program. He now works on the Admissions and Marketing Team helping clients and families admitting into the program. Moore is passionate about Alpha’s company culture and helping young men maintain sobriety.

Short:
Jillian Owens is an Operations Coordinator at Alpha 180 and focuses on the company finances along with Human Resources. Jillian has lived in Austin, Texas for 5 years and has worked at Alpha 180 since January 2022. She enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake.

Long:
Jillian was born and raised in central Louisiana and her family currently resides in Baton Rouge. Jillian began struggling with addiction and mental health in her early teens. At age 16 she had her first introduction to addiction treatment, which ultimately led her to sober living here in Austin. Jillian is extremely passionate about young peoples’ recovery and it was only natural that her career journey led to Alpha 180. Jillian currently serves as an Operations Coordinator at Alpha 180 and manages all day-to-day finances along with Human Resources.

The Short:
William Hennessey is the Residential Manager and oversees the Alpha 180 Transitional Living Program. He manages the Residential Team and ensures our clients have a safe and fun experience while in our care. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking with his friends, exercising, and playing the occasional video game.

The Long:
William Hennessey has held multiple roles at Alpha, perhaps most importantly, a former client whose life was transformed by this community. Now our Residential Manager, Will wears many hats around the building, but primarily manages the Sober Living and everything that goes into keeping it clean and safe. Will also works with our local alumni and helps to keep them involved with Alpha after departing the program.

William’s recovery journey began after dropping out of TCU in 2018 when he recognized that his life was headed nowhere, quickly. Since finding recovery, Will has graduated from St. Edwards University with a degree in Social Work and repaired many valuable relationships that had been tarnished by his active addiction. Today, Will focuses on creating a positive culture within the Alpha community that is based on the core values that the program instills in our emerging adults. In his free time, he enjoys the occasional yoga class and video games. He places high importance on physical health, but really recharges by escaping every couple of months for a backpacking trip with his friends.

Prior to the launch of Alpha 180™, Bob Ferguson has served as founder and CEO of Jaywalker Lodge since 2004. Jaywalker Lodge is an extended care residential treatment and recovery community for men located in Carbondale, CO. Before that, Bob served for over 10 years in senior management positions at a number of the leading treatment providers in the addiction & recovery field including: Jaywalker Lodge, Promises Treatment Centers, Crossroads Antigua, and the Hazelden Foundation.

In addition, Bob has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) since 2011. He is currently beginning his second two-year term on the Executive Committee, serving as Secretary for the NAATP Board. Bob also serves as Chairman of the Board for A Way Out, an Aspen-based 501c3 providing crisis referrals and treatment scholarships for families and residents in Western Colorado.

Bob divides his time between Austin, TX and his home in Snowmass Village where he lives with his wife and two college-aged kids. When he’s not at Alpha 180, Bob stays busy as a grateful participant in his own recovery from addiction, which began – one day at a time – on Feb. 12, 1992.

The Short:

Phillip serves in the residential department. He works within the community of clients to help them throughout their stay at Alpha, whether that be with transportation, organization, or just sitting down to talk. Outside of work, Phillip is very interested in creating music and comedy.

The Long:
Growing up, Phillip always enjoyed being the class-clown, as well as being enveloped by music. He was enthralled by the way both of those artforms connected people. It also enabled him to express himself in the way that he wanted. Causing trouble in class, however, groups you in with other kids who also get in trouble. Phillip and his troublemaking group of friends inevitably began to experiment with different substances in their high school years. Phillip went through a rough period at a young age, and, although his time as well as his mind were consumed by addiction, the music and comedy remained. While struggling with addiction, Phillip continued to produce music and write for stand-up comedy, short films, and advertisements.
Eventually, the time came to make a change in his life, so he decided to go to treatment in Austin. During his stay in treatment, he created relationships with the staff that would change his life for the better. They showed him that there is a fun side to life without drugs that is possible. The care he received inspired Phillip to want to work in treatment someday. He is passionate about showing young people that are struggling in life that you can have fun while staying sober. After focusing on recovery and working in many different fields of work, such as construction, human resources, and waiting tables, he finally had the opportunity to work in the treatment field and he could not be happier.