Board of Trustees

Jody is a graduate of Bucknell University with a B.S. in Biology and has a Physician’s Assistant Degree from Rutgers Medical School. In her spare time, Jody enjoys tennis, paddle, swimming, reading, travel, and walking her two dogs.

Jody says, “The opiate epidemic is one of the worst tragedies that we have today hurting our families physically, emotionally and financially. The hope is that we can help to improve our community through prevention and education, taking the stigma out of addiction and helping individuals maintain their sobriety and go on to lead purposeful lives.”

After completing her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the College of St. Elizabeth, she completed 3 years of clinical work at a psychiatric hospital, collaborating with psychiatrists to provide comprehensive treatment plans for adult and adolescent patients on detox, rehab and co-occurring disorders units. She also supervised an intervention program for perpetrators of interpersonal violence at Jersey Battered Women’s Services. Ms. Aussem earned licensure in New Jersey and New York as a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Master Addictions Counselor certification.  In addition to her work at Center on Addiction, she has a small private practice in New Jersey serving families struggling with addiction and is on the board of Community in Crisis, a local non-profit focused on ending the opioid epidemic.

A resident of Morristown NJ, Pat has served on the Board of Directors since early in 2018 and serves on the marketing committee. She holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology, College of St. Elizabeth 2010; an MBA-Finance, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1985 and a BA Marketing, Michigan State University, 1977. Pat enjoys yoga, almost any sport, cooking and travel.

Pat says, “We have a collective responsibility to ensure our communities have access to accurate information and are able to navigate the treatment system to get quality care related to substance use.  Community in Crisis’s mission and vision to make this happen and “can do” attitude inspired me to join forces.”

Tom is a results-focused leader with an ability to navigate through complex environments, develop talent and motivate diverse teams.  Previously, Tom was President, Janssen Oncology, where he steered the organization through a period of unprecedented growth.

Tom joined Janssen in 2017 after a successful career at Celgene leading the U.S. Hematology/Oncology business as Corporate Vice-President and General Manager.  Over the course of 14 years at Celgene, Tom held leadership positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, general management, medical affairs, and product development.  His extensive global experience includes two roles in Europe as General Manager of Celgene’s business in Spain and Head of EMEA Marketing in Switzerland.  Tom joined Celgene from Pharmacia, where he held roles in sales and product management.

Tom began his career as a chemist and pharmacy technician.  He is a member of the BioNJ Board of Directors, Community in Crisis Board of Trustees, and the American Cancer Society’s Tri-State CEO’s Against Cancer.  Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.  He lives with his wife and three children in New Jersey.

Between Verizon and Vodafone, John spent 17 years in the telecommunications industry. He held various positions with increasing responsibility in Marketing, Analytics, and Operations. Valuing education, John holds a Master’s in Business Analytics from NYU’s Stern School of Business, a Global Executive MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at
Duke University and has completed programs at Columbia Business School, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Lauren says: Since the beginning, Community in Crisis, led by passionate change agents, has epitomized grassroots community organizing at its best, first by raising the alarm about this insidious epidemic, then engaging stakeholders in the identification of solutions, and ultimately, connecting with  — and sometimes placing pressure on — those who are helping make the solutions a reality.”

A graduate of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., B.A. and of New York Law School, New York, New York, J.D., Maryann serves on the CIC Board Development and Risk Management committees. Additionally, Maryann’s professional work and experience include: Municipal Prosecutor in the Shared Services Court of the Township of Washington, Morris County, Borough of Mendham and Borough of Califon, Hunterdon County; Municipal Prosecutor in Joint Court of the Boroughs of Madison, Chatham  and Township of Harding, Morris County; Court appointed arbitrator in New Jersey Superior Court; Member New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Expedited Civil Actions; Panelist Morris County Bar Association 2019 LegalPalooza: Hot Topics in Civil Trial Litigation; Panelist New Jersey Defense Association: 2019 Woman and the Law; Trustee, St. James Church, Basking Ridge, New Jersey 2014-2019.

A resident of Basking Ridge, Maryann lives in Basking Ridge with her husband John, Vice President, JP Morgan Chase, New York, New York and they together have three children, Connor, Keegan and Shaye.

Maryann says, “I have seen the desperate effects of addiction at a local level as a municipal prosecutor.  Putting drug users in jail or imposing fines can make them more prone to committing future offenses, cause them to lose family, jobs and homes, and overstresses the system. Tuned into the justice system’s need to develop more effective responses to drug related crime, CIC’s evidence-based treatment and mission of prevention, with its local roots, offers a resource to make a difference in the approach to the prosecution/rehabilitation of drug offenders.”

Prior to becoming the Prosecutor of Somerset County, Mr. Robertson was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in its Health Care and  Fraud Unit. In that capacity, he managed and supervised multiple federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and HHS-OIG,  investigating individuals and corporations in the health care and medical device industry accused of committing health care fraud, insurance fraud, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, violations of the federal health care program anti-kickback statutes, violations of the false claims act, and medical device fraud. He investigated and oversaw Qui Tam cases filed in the District of New Jersey and worked directly with civil division attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Robertson’s experience at the U.S. Attorney’s Office also included assignment to the Organized Crime Unit, tasked with
investigating and prosecuting violations of RICO, narcotics trafficking, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering. He also investigated and prosecuted individuals for identity theft, structuring, and violations of federal tax law. Mr. Robertson received multiple recognition awards from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies for his work on a variety of federal and state prosecutions. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Robertson served as an assistant prosecutor at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Chris has lectured at and consulted with treatment centers for over 20 years on best practices and recovery philosophy. Chris has a true calling to help those suffering from addictive illness and alcoholism and those having difficulty achieving sobriety. Chris has a way of communication that will inform anyone of the nature of this illness and how it can be overcome. He lives with his wife, Andrea, in Bedminster NJ and enjoys music, literature, and history.

Chris says, “I have been involved most of my adult life supporting recovery processes. The CIC teams are amazing people working toward prevention/treatment/recovery and I am grateful to be included with them all.”

In the earliest days of Community in Crisis, Katy was involved in researching all successful evidence- based programs surrounding addiction prevention, and instrumental in showcasing the 40 Developmental Assets of Successful Families to the community. Katy was instrumental in creating CiC’s largest public event, introducing Chris Herren and The Herren Project to an audience of 1,000 attendees.  Currently, Katy is leading CIC’s “Alternative Approaches to Pain Management in Older Adults” to caregivers and seniors in Somerset County.

Katy earned her B.S. in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and is certified to teach Creativity in Business from Stanford University.  She is a 500-hour certified Baptiste Yoga instructor and earned her teaching certificate in Social Responsibility through the Baptiste Institute. Currently Katy leads group meditation in an Eckert Tolle Power of Now Online Study, and teaches Baptiste Power Yoga and Chair Yoga.

In her free time, Katy enjoys running with her dog, Mia, and taking hot yoga classes.  She is an avid reader, and especially enjoys research.  She feels immense joy bringing chair yoga to adults recovering from cancer.  Finally, when there is spare time, Katy likes gardening, cooking, hiking and biking.

Laurie graduated from Fairfield University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner™.  Laurie has three adult children – Baker, Matthew and Molly. She and her husband, Bud, live in Basking Ridge, NJ.  Laurie enjoys reading, visiting the NJ shore, biking and most recently, playing pickleball.  The Community in Crisis cause is one that is very important and very personal to her.