Meet Our Advisory Board

Keith Howard used to be homeless due to a series of bad breaks, misunderstandings, and a belief that life required a chemical solution. Since 2007, thanks to a program of recovery, he’s managed life without help from any drugs, whether liquid, herbal, pilled, or powdered. From 2018 to 2023, he was chair of the Recovery Task Force of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs. He retired as Executive Director of Manchester’s Hope for New Hampshire Recovery in late 2023.

In earlier lifetimes, Howard traveled the country as director/actor performing improvisational theater, ran alternative schools, worked in radio and newspaper news, and was a Baptist minister. An iconoclast, Howard was named both Class Clown and Class Revolutionary and jokes that he graduated high school 87 years ago. His often dangerous but occasionally amusing writings can be found at tinywhitebox.com. Additionally, he has published short fiction, essays, op-eds, dreadful poetry, and a novel, On Account of Because. A memoir, Unclaimed, but Loud, is due to be published in summer of 2025.

Howard, a U.S. Army veteran, attended the University of New Hampshire and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He holds a master’s degree from Rivier College. He lives in Manchester, NH, with his wife, who is much more accomplished and serious than he.

Dr. Daisy Pierce has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology & Learning Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a founding member of Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region who began as a community volunteer before being officially hired as Executive Director. Dr. Pierce’s educational and professional background provide the framework for her passion as a dedicated teacher, researcher, and community member interested in bridging cultural, social, and emotional gaps that hinder acceptance among diverse groups of people. She identifies as a family member in recovery and an ally who brings compassion and dedication to addressing the substance use public health crisis.

Christina Manter, M.A., is a master’s-level clinician specializing in clinical mental health counseling and addiction counseling. She graduated from Antioch University with an M.A. in 2018 and is working toward her New Hampshire licensure. Christina has been working in the counseling field for more than 10 years. Her approach to therapy is client centered, using cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence–based skills.

Jeanne Venuti is the Director of Workforce Development with the Governor’s Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative, an initiative of Granite United Way.

Recovery Friendly Workplace helps businesses create a healthy, safe, and stigma-free environment for its employees and their loved ones who have been impacted by mental health and substance use disorders.

She spent 6 years at Easter Seals in the Workforce Development department and then gravitated toward the recovery field because she saw the great need for supports in the state that she was born and raised in and loves to call home.

She holds a B.S, in behavioral sciences and has participated in Recovery Coach Academy as well as leadership training. Her hobbies include her ocean resin art as well as riding her purple scooter throughout the Seacoast.