Management
Howard Meitiner – President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Meitiner joined Phoenix House on February 1, 2007 after a highly successful global and domestic career in retail marketing and management including the position of Chief Operating Officer, Fortunoff Group; President and CEO, The Museum Company; President and CEO, LVMH Specialty Retail Concepts; President and CEO, Sephora; Regional President DFS Oceania; Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Travel Industry Relations; Regional President, DFS Singapore; Vice President, Operations and Business Development, DFS Hong Kong; and, General Manager, Debenham Group, London.
Mr. Meitiner’s business acumen has enabled him to have an impressive record of business expansion and development in many different functional areas and geographic locations. Mr. Meitiner is accomplished in creating and driving growth; assembling and motivating management teams; and strategic planning. Prior to joining Phoenix House as the President and CEO, Mr. Meitiner served on the Phoenix House Board of Directors and, as a consultant to Phoenix House, led the turnaround of the Phoenix House New York Region operation. Mr. Meitiner attended Eastbourne College, UK and the College of Distributive Trades, London, UK.
Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D. – Founder, Executive Director of the Rosenthal Center for Clinical and Policy Studies, Senior Advisor to the President & CEO
Dr. Rosenthal founded Phoenix House in May 1967, while serving as deputy commissioner of New York City’s Addiction Services Agency. He resigned his City post in 1970 to lead Phoenix House as a private, nonprofit organization. As a psychiatrist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Oakland, California, from 1957 to 1965, he established the first service-sponsored therapeutic community for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction and character disorders.
Dr. Rosenthal received his B.A. from Lafayette College in 1956 and his M.D. in 1960 from the State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center. He has been a White House advisor on drug abuse, a special consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and chaired the New York State Advisory Council on Drug Abuse from 1985 to 1997. In February 2007, as part of his succession plan, Dr. Rosenthal stepped down as President and CEO. His present role at Phoenix House includes directing the organization’s efforts to influence public discourse and policy on matters of substance abuse treatment and prevention.
Kevin T. Kirchoff – Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Kirchoff joined Phoenix House in 1994 and became the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2001. Prior to joining Phoenix House, he was the Director of Finance for the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc (MPAA) and an Internal Audit Manager within Citibank’s Capital Markets Group. Previously, he was an audit Manager at Pannell Kerr Forster, Certified Public Accountants, where he specialized in the areas of Not-for-Profit and Health Care.
Mr. Kirchoff holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BBA in Accounting from Iona College. He was issued a CPA from the State of New York and has completed certification programs in Computer Technology, Systems Application Development and Project Management at Columbia University.
Amy E. Singer – Senior Vice President and Director, Public/Private Partnerships and Business Development
Ms. Singer joined the Phoenix House Foundation in 1994 as Director of Criminal Justice Planning, was promoted to Vice President, Director of Program Planning and Research in 1995 and Senior Vice President and Director of Program Planning and Operations in February 2000. She had previously worked as Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Programs for the New York City Department of Correction; Senior Associate for the Education Development Center; private consultant to the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation; Assistant Secretary for Criminal Justice, Boston, MA; and Chief of the Victim Witness Service Bureau in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Singer also chaired the National Advisory Committee for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s $21M Reclaiming Futures initiative. Ms. Singer has a B.A. from American University. She also has an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, where she was selected as the Arthur D. Little Fellow for her commitment to public service.
Stephen C. Donowitz – Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions and Infrastructure Development
Mr. Donowitz joined Phoenix House in June 1996 as Budget Director and later, Deputy Director of Finance. He was promoted to Vice President and Director of Finance in September 2001. In September 2006, Mr. Donowitz was named Vice President and Director of Adolescent Services. In July 2008, Mr. Donowitz assumed the position of Vice President and Director of Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining Phoenix House, Mr. Donowitz held several finance and business positions including Fiscal Officer, New York University; Manager, Northeast ProAqua; and Supervising Budget Analyst, New York City Office of Management and Budget. He holds a B.A. degree in Mathematics from the State University of New York, Binghamton and a M.B.A from New York University.
Patrick B. McEneaney – Senior Vice President and Regional Director of Phoenix Houses of New England and Phoenix Houses of Florida
Mr. McEneaney joined Phoenix House as Vice President and Regional Director in August 1999 when Phoenix House acquired Marathon Phoenix House. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President and Regional Director in April 2003. In July 2008, Mr. McEneaney assumed responsibility for both the New England and Florida Regions. Prior to joining Phoenix House, he headed his own consulting firm, HR Diagnostics, and served as Vice President, Director of Human Resources, for Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens for over 20 years. He also served as an Assistant Adjunct Professor at St. John’s University. Mr. McEneaney holds a B.A. from Queens College and an Executive M.B.A. from Baruch College.
John Diehl – Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary
Mr. Diehl joined Phoenix House in December 2004 as Vice President and General Counsel. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel in December 2005. In October 2006, Mr. Diehl also assumed responsibility for Compliance and Quality Assurance. Prior to joining Phoenix House, Mr. Diehl was a partner in the international law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP, where he principally represented colleges, universities and other not-for-profit clients. Mr. Diehl first joined the Nixon firm as an associate in 1981 and re-joined the firm in 2001 after having served for several years as chief legal counsel, senior advisor to the President, and corporation secretary for the University of Rochester. Mr. Diehl also served at various times as a member of Rochester’s adjunct faculty, teaching courses in law and economics to M.B.A. students. Mr. Diehl is admitted to practice in the State of New York. He received his B.A. (economics and business) from Macalester College (1975), M.S. in business administration from the University of Rochester (1978), and J.D. from the University of Miami (1981).
Karen L. Sodomick – Vice President and Director, Communications and Marketing
Ms. Sodomick joined Phoenix House in March 2008 as Vice President and Director, Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining Phoenix House she had extensive experience in communications, marketing, and events management including roles as Manager, Online Marketing for Hachette-Filipacchi Media US; Managing Director of Marketing and Events for Teach For America; and, Outreach Supervisor for A. I. Signal Research, Inc., the public affairs provider to NASA’s Office of Strategic Communications at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Karen was selected by NASA to lead the international outreach planning for four Mission Directorates and 10 NASA centers that included events in England, Canada, and with the European and Italian Space Agencies. While at NASA, Karen received numerous awards including the NASA Strategic Communication Innovation Award; the NASA Public Affairs Achievement Award; and, a Certificate of Excellence from the Shuttle Program. Karen holds a B.A. in Public Relations and a M.A. in Communication from Auburn University.
Michael Hailye – Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Michael Hailye joined Phoenix House in September 2008 as Chief Information Officer. He is responsible for IT strategy alignment, organization and staffing, vendor relationships, and implementation and operations of all IT systems. Prior to joining Phoenix House, he was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young IT, leading their New York IT Effectiveness advisory services practice from 2002-2008. Michael advised Fortune 1000 organizations with IT strategy development, organizational change management, IT governance, IT spending management, and technology architecture. During 1999 – 2002, Michael was a member of Arthur Anderson’s Technology Risk Services practice, based in New York, and built and led their New York computer forensics services. During March 1995, Michael was commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force and served four years as a Logistics Officer. Michael holds a bachelors degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a masters degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan. He is also a graduate of the United States Air Force Officer Training School.
Deni Carise, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Carise, a Clinical Psychologist, joined Phoenix House as Chief Clinical Officer in January 2010. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Psychiatry. Prior to coming to Phoenix House she was Director of the Treatment Systems Research Section at the Philadelphia-based Treatment Research Institute (TRI) where she had been employed since 1994. She earned both her Bachelor’s Degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University in Philadelphia. She completed a NIDA Post-Doctoral Fellowship (1993–1996) at the University of Pennsylvania. In the substance abuse treatment and research field over 25 years, Dr. Carise has practiced in almost all modalities of substance abuse treatment programs, has worked with adults and adolescent populations including dually diagnosed clients, Native Americans, and with medical populations (including spinal cord-injured, cardiac care and trauma patients).
She has worked extensively with numerous countries and their treatment providers including Nigeria, Thailand, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Singapore, Brazil, China and others to integrate scientifically-validated treatments into their treatment programs. She has been particularly committed to working with developing countries. Dr. Carise has published in numerous peer-reviewed and professional journals and has presented over 150 lectures by invitation (approximately 35 internationally) in the past 15 years. She has also been featured in segments of Nightline, Fox News and many federally-funded web-casts and has also been quoted in popular newsprint media such as US News and World Report, Fox News, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Weekly, NIDA Notes, and others.
Traci Donnelly – Senior Vice President and Regional Director, Phoenix Houses of New York and Phoenix Houses of Long Island
Ms. Donnelly was appointed to the position of Vice President and Regional Director, Phoenix Houses of New York in April 2010. Prior to that appointment, she served as Vice President and Director of Clinical Programs for the New York region beginning in March 2009. Ms. Donnelly originally joined APPLE as a counselor in 1990 and was with the APPLE organization during the time frame when Phoenix House acquired APPLE. Her roles at APPLE during this period included Supervisor; Assistant Director and Clinical Coordinator of Mental Health Services; Senior Director of Mental Health Services; and Regional Director of Mental Health Services. In 2001, she left Phoenix House to accept a position as a special education teacher in the Port Jefferson School District where her responsibilities included providing education and workshops on mental illness and substance abuse. Ms. Donnelly rejoined Phoenix House in December 2007 as Vice President and Director, Mental Health Services. Ms. Donnelly holds a B.A in Psychology and an M.S. in Special Education from Dowling College. She also holds a NYS Permanent Certification in Special Education K-12.
Jill Nevins – Vice President and Director of Development
Ms. Nevins joined Phoenix House in January 2012 as Vice President and Director of Development. Before joining Phoenix House, Jill served as Senior Major Gifts Officer at The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national land conservation and urban parks creation organization, where she was responsible for a portfolio of major donors and secured the first seven-figure gift from an individual for the urban parks program. Prior to joining TPL, she served as an independent consultant raising major donor gifts and advising on all aspects of building a development effort. From 2006 to 2008, she served as Associate Director of Development at the Ross Institute where she helped lead the development effort to raise funds for the newly launched Ross Global Academy Charter School in Manhattan, based on the model and pedagogy of the Ross School in East Hampton, NY. From 1994 through 2006, Ms. Nevins worked at Projects Plus, Inc., a fundraising consulting firm, where she ended her tenure as Vice President responsible for raising approximately $10 million annually. Ms. Nevins is a graduate of Fordham Law School and Simmons College.
Deborah Simpson Taylor – Senior Vice President and Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region
Ms. Taylor joined Phoenix House in November 2010 as Senior Vice President and Director, Phoenix Houses of the Mid-Atlantic, when Vanguard Services Unlimited joined Phoenix House. Ms. Taylor’s career in the treatment of substance use disorders spans 38 years, since 1972. She joined Vanguard in 1989 as Executive Director and assumed the title of CEO seven years later. She was responsible for Vanguard’s growth to 14 programs serving over 800 persons, plus their families, annually. Prior to joining Vanguard, she was employed by Virginia Hospital Center as Program Manager of the Adolescent Addiction Treatment Program. During her career, she has also worked for Suburban Hospital in its Addiction Treatment Unit in Bethesda, Maryland, the Psychiatric Institute of Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia’s Alcohol and Drug Services. A resident of Arlington, Virginia, Ms. Taylor is currently an appointed member of the Arlington County Partnership on Children, Youth and Families. She serves as a Board Member of the Arlington Committee of 100, on the Program Committee of Leadership Arlington Board of Regents, and as the Chair of the Partnership for a Healthier Arlington Committee on Teen Age Binge Drinking and Serious Drug Use. Her work in the field has been broadly acknowledged.
Most notably, she received the Virginia Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Distinguished Service Award in 1993, the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Legislative Achievement Award in 1998, the 2002 Northern Virginia Coalition for the Mentally Disabled Distinguished Service Award, the 2003 Arlington Community Hero Award, the 2007 Kiwanis Community Service Award, the 2007 Leadership Arlington Community Leader Award, the 2007 Person of Vision award from the Arlington County Commission on the Status of Women, the 2007 VAADAC Walter Kloetzli Award, and the 2010 Virginia Association of Drug and Alcohol Program Ginger Acey Award. Ms. Taylor is a psychiatric nurse certified in Chemical Dependency.
Alexander Clague – Vice President and Director, Insurance and Self-Pay
Mr. Clague joined Phoenix House on April 4, 2011 as Vice President and Director for Managed Care and Private Insurance. Prior to joining Phoenix House, he spent more than 16 years at UnitedHealthcare, including nearly 5 years running the Medicare Advantage business in the Northeast Region. He held leadership positions in the network management organization at UnitedHealthcare, where he was responsible for ongoing contractual and business relationships with various healthcare providers, including hospital systems, physician groups and pharmacy organizations. Mr. Clague holds an AB from Amherst College and an MS from Northwestern University.
