In 2004, Anita Bradley founded the Northern Ohio Recovery Association (NORA).  Bradley has been in recovery for over 32 years and understands the importance of blending personal and professional knowledge to promote the power and possibility of recovery. In 2014, she extended the expertise on substance abuse to the administration of President Barack Obama. In 2016, Bradley was honored by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for the programs she created within the substance abuse field. The no non-sense but compassionate executive has extensive experience in planning, implementing and evaluating substance abuse treatment programs, and has provided technical assistance to a multitude of other agencies.

Before founding NORA in 2004, Bradley was the Executive Director of Compass House, Inc. located in Lorain, Ohio. There she lent her skills, talent and management style to the county’s largest residential treatment center. With oversight of a 3.0 million dollar budget, her responsibilities included supervision of a 55-member staff and more than 100 volunteers. During her tenure, she was successful in garnering funding and cultivating a statewide network, statewide training and relationships within in the service system; writing and administering grants; enforcing service standards and policies in addition to monitoring agency performance of the Board of Trustee and agency funding partners.

She was the inspirational catalyst who organized several public Recovery Month events including  Recovery Motorcycle Ride, which has stimulated the planning of other yearly recovery and substance abuse prevention events. She continues to promote and ensure a continuum of recovery by sustaining a peer recovery model that is both paramount and essential to on-going sobriety.

Bradley is a tremendous voice and advocate for women and faithfully demonstrates that advocacy is the critical link between treatment, recovery, and the rest of the world. Similarly, she continues “Building Recovery Into Diverse Globally Effective Systems,” or BRIDGES of HOPE, to offer culturally relevant consumer choices, presented with dignity and respect to youth, adults, and families in communities throughout Ohio.