BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum and First Lady Kathryn Burgum are inviting the general public to join them for Recovery Reinvented, an event dedicated to eliminating the shame and stigma of the disease of addiction, on Oct. 30 at the Bismarck Event Center. The event will also be livestreamed.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and is currently open for both in-person and online attendees.
This will be the fourth time the event has been in Bismarck, having also been hosted in Minot last year, once in Fargo, once in Grand Forks and virtually in 2020. The daylong event will feature state and national addiction and recovery experts who will focus on reinventing recovery through the sharing of stories, creating recovery-friendly cultures in the workplace and community, and eliminating the stigma surrounding the disease of addiction.
The keynote speaker lineup includes:
- Dr. William Moyers is the vice president of public affairs and community relations at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Since 1996, he has been a passionate public advocate for addiction treatment and recovery, delivering powerful messages to audiences nationwide. As a person in long-term recovery, Moyers is dedicated to ending the stigma surrounding addiction and has traveled extensively sharing his story and insights. He was a keynote speaker at the first Recovery Reinvented conference in 2017.
- Gregory Tatro serves as the co-founder and co-executive director of Jenna’s Promise, a treatment center based in Johnson, Vermont. Tatro’s life changed in 2019 with the death of his sister Jenna from an overdose. For six years, the Tatro family struggled alongside Jenna as she wrestled with an increasing addiction that took over her life. Witnessing firsthand the gaps that existed in substance use treatment within the national model, the family was determined to forge a new path. First with themselves, and then with a growing group of like-minded professionals, their organization, Jenna’s Promise, emerged as a grassroots movement for change. Gregory Tatro has been deeply involved in the creation and development of their innovative village model which aims to shift the paradigm of substance use disorder treatment and create better outcomes for individuals in recovery, as well as support the struggling rural Vermont community that houses the campus.
- Natasha Silver Bell is the founder and CEO of SilverBell Global. A Midwest farm girl born in Montana and raised in Michigan, Silver Bell was crowned Miss Michigan USA at 19 years old and went on to place in the top six at Miss USA. This success led Silver Bell to New York, where her career as a Ford model was cut short after four years by her struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. After becoming sober in 2008, Silver Bell embraced the unexpected future that opened up for her when she was introduced to the art of recovery coaching. Inspired to reinvent traditional recovery journeys by creating sustainable pathways to mental wellness, she began sowing the seeds of what would one day become SilverBell Global’s multidisciplinary approach to recovery. She also is a co-founder of the Inservice Foundation, dedicated to providing mental health support to underserved populations, and Youth Prevention Mentors (YPM), empowering and activating young adults through mentorship and risk mitigation.
Their full bios can be read on Recovery Reinvented’s website.
On Recovery Reinvented’s social media, there will be the opportunity to share and submit stories of recovery. Addiction and recovery-related nonprofit organizations and service providers also are encouraged to join the Recovery Resources Expo, which will connect people to extensive addiction, recovery and mental health organizations and resources from across the state. Anyone interested in these opportunities to get involved can visit recoveryreinvented.com to learn more and sign up.
Registration is open on Eventbrite, with additional updates being shared on recoveryreinvented.com and by the Governor, First Lady, and Recovery Reinvented’s social media on Facebook @GovernorDougBurgum, @FirstLadyND and @RecoveryND and on Instagram and X @FirstLadyND and @Recovery_ND.