Reclaiming Futures Names Evan Elkin as New National Executive Director

Susan Richardson has recently announced her plans to leave the position of national executive director of Reclaiming Futures to return to her home state of North Carolina, and we are grateful for her years of excellent leadership. Yesterday, Reclaiming Futures appointed Mr. Evan Elkin as national executive director, effective May 11, 2015.

We are sad to see Susan go, but we're also excited to appoint someone who has been involved in the Reclaiming Futures initiative for many years. Evan is a national leader and innovator, who has years of experience working in juvenile justice, and substance abuse and mental health treatment for young people. Please join us in saying farewell to Susan and welcoming Evan into the Reclaiming Future community!

Below are more details on this announcement:

Portland, Oregon (April 8, 2015) — Reclaiming Futures, a national initiative for improving juvenile justice through community integration, names a new national executive director, Evan Elkin.

Elkin is a longtime associate with the organization, having worked with founding national executive director Laura Nissen since the inception of Reclaiming Futures in 2000. Most recently, Elkin served as the treatment model developer for the Reclaiming Futures Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment adaptation (SBIRT-Juvenile Justice) and clinical director overseeing the three-year, five-site pilot.

As the national executive director, Elkin seeks to amplify Reclaiming Futures’ public health approach to juvenile justice, focusing on mobilizing resources in communities, courts and schools to unlock the positive forces that improve youth development and well-being.

“Reclaiming Futures has a powerful national learning collaborative made up of 41 sites, hundreds of experts in the field and trusted partners,” explains Elkin. “I intend to bring this collective knowledge to new frontiers in the public health continuum, to strengthen communities and create pathways for equity and access to health for our nation’s young people.”

Elkin formerly consulted for the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center, and the Greenburger Center for Social & Criminal Justice. He also served as the director in the Department of Planning and Innovation for the Vera Institute of Justice.

Susan Richardson, Reclaiming Futures’ current national executive director, will transition out of the organization and return to North Carolina after four years leading and overseeing the national program office in Portland, Oregon. Prior to Reclaiming Futures, she was a senior program officer in the health care division of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she led a three-year effort involving the state’s juvenile justice and treatment leaders to adopt the Reclaiming Futures initiative by juvenile courts in six North Carolina counties.

“It has been a privilege to work with the Reclaiming Futures initiative both nationally and in North Carolina. I am very proud of the growth and sustainability we’ve achieved together and I am so excited about this next chapter with Evan Elkin at the helm. He is an expert leader, strategist and clinician who won’t miss a beat in taking Reclaiming Futures to the next level.”

Elkin will replace Richardson on May 11, 2015.