John Coppola, MSW
Executive Director
Mr. Coppola has been the Executive Director of the New York Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, Inc. (ASAP) since its inception. Mr. Coppola has responsibility for representing the interests of alcoholism and substance abuse treatment, prevention, recovery, research, and training providers throughout New York State. Prior to becoming Executive Director of ASAP, Mr. Coppola worked for Catholic Charities of Montgomery County as the Program Director for their outpatient substance abuse program, the Associate Director, and Executive Director. During his tenure at Catholic Charities, Mr. Coppola served on the Executive Committee of the NYS Association of Substance Abuse Programs. He also served as Chairperson of the NYS Catholic Conference Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee, as Chairperson of the Catholic Charities USA Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee, and is a Past-President of the State Associations of Addiction Services, the national association of state associations representing chemical dependency programs. He has served on numerous national, regional and statewide advisory committees, and served in an advisory role with the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Mr. Coppola received his Masters Degree in Social Work from the State University of New York at Albany and his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Dominican College. He is a Licensed Master Social Worker.
Ashley Behrle, Chief Operating Officer
Ashley Behrle joins ASAP as its Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the execution of ASAP’s programs and initiatives and aiding in the management of day-to-day operations of the organization. Ashley previously worked with ASAP as it’s Program Director with a focus on government relations and managing special projects and grants. Ashley has a background working in clinical settings serving adults providing mental health and addiction support services. She has also served as a government relations specialist working with various non-profit organizations to coordinate policy and budgetary campaigns and increase organization visibility with the legislature and relevant government agencies. She has a strong background in program facilitation and management and is pleased to re-join the ASAP team.
Ashley graduated from The College of St. Rose with a BA in Psychology and earned her Master’s in Social Work from SUNY Albany.
Read our interview with Ashley at https://www.asapnys.org/nycb-team/
Sherry LaFountain
Director of Events Management, Marketing & Development
Ms. LaFountain joined Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers in 2001 and has held multiple positions within ASAP. Sherry is the Director of Events Management, Marketing & Development wherein she provides professional services in the planning, organization and management of events, logistics of events, event coordination, contract provisions, policies and procedures, manages budgets, exhibitions and provides complete oversight of all aspects of meeting planning and production. Sherry also supports membership recruitment and retention efforts, member services, development of strategies and other activities to increase the membership and visibility of ASAP. Prior to coming to ASAP, Sherry worked for Featherstonhaugh, Conway, Wiley & Clyne, LLP, a well-known and well-respected Albany-based law firm specializing in governmental relations, regulatory affairs, complex litigation, business law, health law, and environmental law as a Legal Secretary/Paralegal for two partners and four associate attorneys for ten years. Sherry also worked for Brown & Weinraub, a leading-edge Government Relations & Strategic Consulting law firm, representing a broad spectrum of business interests established and/or seeking to expand in New York ranging from Fortune 500 to start-up enterprises, from large health care systems to neighborhood clinics, and from industry pillars to disruptors as an Executive Assistant to Managing Partner/Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer and numerous lobbyists. Sherry is a graduate of the Empire State Society of Association (ESSAE) Executives Association Leadership Academy.
Read our interview with Sherry at https://www.asapnys.org/nycb-team/
Kyle Plaske, Director of Public Policy
Kyle Plaske has served as ASAP’s Director of Public Policy since February 2018. In his role, Kyle is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with elected officials, legislative staff, and state agency representatives to help advance ASAP’s legislative and budgetary priorities. Working closely with the Public Policy Committee, Kyle helps to monitor proposed legislation and regulations and to develop ASAP’s advocacy and communications strategies. He also oversees all public relations activities and communications. Kyle earned his BA at the University at Albany and received his MPA from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.
Lou Desso, Special Assistant to Executive Director
Dorinda Sperry, Accounting
ASAP-NEW YORK CERTIFICATION BOARD (ASAP-NYCB)
Elisabeth Kranson, ICE-Certified Credentialing Specialist - Director of Certification
Elisabeth Kranson was appointed as the first full-time Director of Certification in September 2020. She started at ASAP in 2015, working in a variety of roles, including planning the New York Society of Addiction Medicine's Annual Statewide Conference in NYC. She became the Certification Coordinator for the NYCB in 2016 where she was responsible for reviewing all certification applications, providing customer service, maintaining records, processing payments, and generally ensuring smooth passage through the review/approval process. Before joining ASAP, Elisabeth was a stay-at-home mother to her now teenage kids. Elisabeth has a BA in Business/Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Read our interview with Elisabeth at https://www.asapnys.org/nycb-team/
Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f
Community Outreach & Communications | ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry Program Manager
Ruth Riddick is an ASAP-NYCB Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC) with a private training and coaching practice at Sobriety Together™, an authorized and experienced Recovery Coach Academy trainer (CART), a designated Recovery Coach Professional and RCP/facilitator (CCAR). She is co-founder and program manager of the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry, launched in 2020. Appointed to ASAP in 2016, she serves as New York city-based Community Outreach, supporting professional peer recovery development and certification throughout the prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery field. She also serves as consultant to the ASAP-NYCB Ethics Committee and as ASAP-PWI administrator where she manages ASAP's online training programs.
Ruth is acknowledged nationally as a peer recovery subject matter expert, and is a familiar speaker on topics such as the Peer Recovery Profession, Mapping the Stages of Recovery and Partnering for Ethical Practice. She developed the ASAP-NYCB Peer Recovery Exam Prep workshop, now online and based, in part, on her item writing service with the International Credentialing & Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC). She is also co-developer of the ASAP-PWI CRPA-Family classroom-based curriculum, a co-TOT trainer of the authorized CRPA-F Trainer Panel, and a member of the Veteran Supported Recovery certification and training development team.
Widely published, she appears in William White's Recovery Bibliography. Ruth Riddick is a two-time Irish America Healthcare honoree and multiple awardee at Caron Treatment Centers, where she has volunteered for nearly two decades. Most recently honored by In His Name Outreach (2022) and Samaritan-PARC (2021), she serves as a subject matter expert to the SAMHSA-funded Opioid Response Network (from 2017), and the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence (from 2021), as well as on the board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals (from 2022).
Doug Rosenberry, Certifications Development
Doug joined the ASAP-NYCB Certification Team following a distinguished career in credentialing at OASAS, the state agency, where, among other achievements, he was deeply involved in developing the CASAC credential. For ASAP-NYCB, Doug has managed certification and training development for CRPA-Family (2019) and Veteran Supported Recovery (2021), and is currently working on bringing CRPA-Youth to the field in early 2023. He serves as Certification Expert to the ASAP-NYCB Trainer Registry.
Read our interview with Doug at https://www.asapnys.org/nycb-team/
Cathie Gifford, Program Associate
Cathie joined the NYCB team in 2017. She provides invaluable customer service, processes applications, maintains financial records, and other staff support. Prior to joining ASAP/NYCB, Cathie ran her own business for over 20 years.
Read our interview with Cathie at https://www.asapnys.org/nycb-team/
