Bob Lindsey. Bob is a life-long Recovery Advocate who has worked and volunteered on addiction prevention, treatment and recovery issues since college. Bob’s passionate commitment to recovery is connected to the fact that he has 12 family members in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As a result of his personal family history and professional understanding of addiction, he has not used alcohol or other drugs since 1976.
Prior to his most recent retirement, Bob served as the first non-physician, Executive Director of International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous (IDAA), which was founded in 1949. During his tenure with IDAA he helped lead a major transition in the management, operations and governance of IDAA.
Before his time at IDAA, Bob served as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Friends of Recovery New York (FOR-NY) from 2015 to 2017, helping to secure state funding, opened the office and hired the first full-time staff leading to remarkable growth and development of a statewide network of local Recovery Community Organizations (RCO’s), Recovery Community and Outreach Centers (RCOC’s) and an expanding network of recovery advocates for individuals and families impacted by addiction.
Before coming to FOR-NY, Bob was President/CEO of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) in NYC from 2006 – 2013. NCADD recently merged with Facing Addiction. During Bob’s tenure, each year, more than 700,000 people contacted NCADD and it’s National Network of Affiliates seeking help and the NCADD website averaged over 2 million visitors.
Prior to NCADD Bob was Director of Community Relations for the Betty Ford Center; served as the Executive Director of the New York State Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Addictions, Inc. (NYSCADA) from 1982-1990; a Unit Manger/Therapist at Spofford Hall in Spofford, NH from 1980-1982 and served as Executive Director of the Allegany County Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc. (ACCASA) in Wellsville, NY from 1975-1980. During his tenure at ACCASA Bob was elected as President of the New York Federation of Alcoholism Counselors (NYFAC), the organization that created the oral and written examination for alcoholism counselors, currently known as CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors).
