Phoenix House Appoints Three New Board Members

Phoenix House California, one of the state’s leading non-profit substance abuse and mental health treatment organizations, is pleased to announce the addition of three members to its board of directors: Mary Hale, MS, CNC of Executive Management Health Services; Deborah Festa, Partner, Milbank LLP; and Peter Steckelman, Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, The Tennis Channel. They join long-standing Chairman Timothy J. Noonan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lockton Insurance Brokers LLC.

“We are thrilled to welcome these accomplished individuals to our board, a collaborative and forward-thinking group who are committed to our mission of placing patients first,” says Shawna Morris, President & Chief Executive Officer, Phoenix House California. “Their expertise and leadership in their respective fields will be a tremendous asset to Phoenix House California as we continue to strengthen and expand our substance abuse treatment and prevention programs as well mental health initiatives throughout Southern California.”

Mary Hale has more than 30 years in the behavioral health field and became acquainted with Phoenix House California early in her career with the Orange County Behavioral Health Department. As former Behavioral Health Director for Orange County, she was responsible for client-centered, directed care and recovery of clients through a comprehensive community system of care for behavioral health. A long-time Orange County resident, Ms. Hale holds a master’s degree in clinical and community psychology. Her passion is to improve the lives of individuals and families living with substance use and mental health disorders by improving access, co-occurring competency and cultural competency with a focus on continuous quality improvement.

Deborah Festa is a partner in Milbank’s Alternative Investments Practice and leader of the firm’s West Coast securitization and investment management practices. In both Los Angeles and New York, she has extensive experience representing sponsors, issuers, collateral managers, arrangers and investors in securitization and other structured finance transactions, with a particular emphasis on the collateralized loan obligations (CLO) asset class. Ms. Festa earned her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and received her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles. She has held several leadership roles in community organizations, including past president of Phi Beta Kappa Alumni in Southern California (Alpha Association). Losing a relative to addiction drove Ms. Festa’s passion to support the excellent work of Phoenix House California and join as a board member.

Peter Steckelman serves as SVP, Business & Legal Affairs at The Tennis Channel. His expertise is in entertainment and sports media business development and legal affairs with significant executive experience initiating, developing and executing strategic growth, seeking new business opportunities, and improving operational efficiencies in public and private organizations. He earned a J.D. from NY Law School and a B.A. from Rutgers University. Mr. Steckelman has been a Childlife Volunteer at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital for nearly a decade and has served on Lambda Legal’s Leadership Committee amongst other affiliations. Inspired by the staff’s commitment to make each patient’s day and life better, Mr. Steckelman looks forward to helping the organization increase its efficiencies and impact on the community.

Led by Chairman Timothy J. Noonan, president and CEO of Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC, the Phoenix House California Board is comprised of additional board members including Hayko Aldzhikyan, President, ServiceMaster Restore; Michael Dwyer, SVP, JAKKS Pacific Inc.; DeeDee Gordon; Bradley de Koning, Managing Partner, Mercury Partners LLC; Michael Kraus, Chairman and CEO, Expak Logistics; John-Paul Motley, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers; Geoffrey M. Nathanson; Valeria Rico, CEO, GGA Solutions; Jeffrey Seabold, Vice Chairman, Bold Holdings;  and Shawna Morris, ex officio, President & CEO, Phoenix House California.