Trustee Nominee Applications

Home: Tregarth, United Kingdom
Years in OA: 15
Years of service beyond the group level: 14
Date continuous abstinence began: January 3, 2011
Date maintenance began: January 1, 2012

Summary of OA service responsibilities

2023 – Present Day: Chair of trustees for the OA Region Nine Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), the legal entity for Region Nine

2024 to Present: World Service Business Conference (WSBC) delegate for OA Region Nine

2025 to Present: Serve on the Bylaws Committee, served on the Reference Subcommittee at WSBC 2025, act as chair of the Everyone Has a Voice Subcommittee

October 2024 and 2025: Centre mic for OA Great Britain National Assembly

May 2024: WSBC delegate for OA Region Nine, acted as Region Nine chair for part of it, sat on the Unity with Diversity Committee

2023 – Present: Treasurer for Red Dragon Intergroup

2023: Red Dragon Intergroup hosted OA Region Nine Assembly and Convention; the first-ever hybrid regional assembly in OA

2020 – 2023: OA Region Nine chair, member of the Region Chairs Committee, attended two virtual WSBCs as region chair, chaired three region assemblies (two online and one hybrid)

2017 – 2020: Treasurer for OA Region Nine, board member and sat on region committees including Service, Traditions, and Concepts and Loving the Differences

(During my six years on the region board and since I have travelled and given talks and workshops across the region including in Iceland, Denmark, South Africa, and Poland; also many online workshops including a series with fellows in Iran)

2018: Founder member of OA Red Dragon Intergroup covering Wales and the borders

2017: Region Nine representative for Northwest of England Intergroup to the region assembly in Iceland

2015 – 2017: Vice chair of NW Intergroup, previous group rep to NW Intergroup

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages, a post-grad degree from Warwich Business School, and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Peace Studies. I have undertaken high-level leadership training including a prestigious senior management fast track for local government and more recently an international leadership programme led by indigenous elders from around the world. I am director of two companies; founder and director of a social enterprise (UK equivalent of a non-profit), and also my own company which hold royalties and income from my books and personal work. I travel internationally as a Master of Ceremony, speaker, and facilitator of groups. I am a published author of three books on a topic that makes me now a leading voice in my field, which is the care of the dying, dead, and bereaved. My skills include synthesising complex information and presenting it in an inclusive and simple way (I have been called an “explainer of things”). I am a people person. I am an excellent communicator and facilitator. I am a really good listener and friend. I take in a lot of information and can “read a room” very well before turning that into pointed and insightful focus and can support conversations to address the most difficult and complex points in a peaceful and productive way.

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

I believe I would be quite the asset to OA if I should be given the privilege of serving as trustee. My experience as Region Nine chair and then chair of the CIO for Region Nine provides me with a deep and complex understanding of the international needs of the Fellowship, including the challenges faced by the non-English speaker and the cultural dynamics at play at OA’s growing edge. There is only one logical way for my service in OA to progress, as I see it, and that is to bring my experience in service as a trustee. I have given long and deep thought to the future of OA and how it might respond to the fast-changing global changes we are all facing. I believe my professional expertise, personal relationship skills, and my involved service experience in OA to date provide a unique combination of resources that OA can really benefit from. Ultimately, service keeps me well, and giving service at the level I have done in recent years has helped me maintain my health and abstinence through some incredibly difficult personal challenges; so I owe it to myself and to the Fellowship to give back as part of my Step Twelve. I love sponsoring and working at intergroup, but when I get into conversations at the world service level, I am reminded time and again that my experience and knowledge from serving at Region Nine is vital, and it will atrophy and be wasted if I do not lever it in service of the Fellowship as a whole.

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

I was broken when I arrived at OA. I was 30 years old and I was in mental health collapse, signed off from work. I was pre-diabetic, infertile, and had chronic fatigue as well as looking likely to be hospitalised for my mental health. I had been trapped in a cycle of bingeing and manically dieting since I was a teenager; I had been morbidly obese and also underweight and anorexic. I was addicted not just to food and binge eating but also to dieting, pills, laxatives, exercise, and clean eating. I arrived at a group that worked the Big Book, and there was only one meeting a week without other meetings nearby, so I knew no different. I did as I was told, asked for a sponsor on my second week, and she took me through the Twelve Steps within seven weeks. At Steps Three, Seven, Nine, and Eleven I had clear incremental spiritual awakenings which resulted in an organic abstinence without effort; my HP gave me 301 quite spontaneously as my plan of eating and with some bottom and top lines around exercise, I was reborn.

I have been able to maintain that three meals a day, nothing in between, one day at a time ever since. I may have had slips but never relapsed (touch wood) because of the gentle nature of the plan; if I slip with the food, it is an invitation back to God, a Step Ten issue. This was how I was sponsored, and it works for me one day at a time. I am no longer diabetic, my monthly cycle returned, my guts work now when they didn’t them, my skin is clear, and my mind is stable. I no longer have chronic fatigue. I am physically very fit and well preferring hiking in nature to the hours in the gym I used to compulsively do. I maintain over 110 pounds from my heaviest weight and I also have a sustained neutrality about my body weight and appearance, which marks an incredible recovery from the anorexic/orthorexic obsessions of my youth. I love giving service; I was the lone founder of my local Bangor group meeting, which grew to be a founder member of the Red Dragon Intergroup. I love that intergroup so much, and I have served in some capacity at all levels of OA. The greatest indicator of my spiritual recovery is that I sustained six years on the region board, consistently showing up and doing service at a level I did not believe myself capable of. My untreated nature is inconsistent and prone to low self-esteem and giving up but with recovery I have committed, sustained, and done really good work that I am so honoured to have been part of delivering. God is good! I am an atheist in as much as I do not believe in a deity god but I do use the word God to describe my process – the process is God for me – and I would describe my faith in the process to be unshakeable and deeply nourishing. I owe OA my life and my health. Thank you for being there for me!

I have and still do work all Twelve Steps to the best of my ability. I am versed and experienced in the application of the Traditions and Concepts, and I do so to the best of my ability. I meet all the qualifications for trustee below and affirm my commitment to serving this Fellowship in whatever way Higher Power sees fit.

Home: Oregon, USA
Years in OA: 33
Years of service beyond the group level: 19
Date continuous abstinence began: February 20, 1995
Date maintenance began: Unknown

Summary of OA service responsibilities

Region Two Service, Silicon Valley Intergroup: Newsletter editor, 1 year; intergroup chair, 1 year; retreat coordinator, 1 year

Region One Service, Oregon OA Intergroup: Newsletter editor, 4 years; Delegate/rep, 4 years; World Service Business Conference (WSBC) Young People, Bylaws (delegate cochair) Committees; intergroup chair, 5 years

Region One Board: Secretary, partial term (appointed to board); first vice chair, 1 year; chair, 4 years; Region Chairs Committee (delegate cochair), 1 year

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

I spent my career working in the high-tech industry. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. I began my career as a hardware design engineer. As such, I think logically when considering business decisions. I transitioned to technical writing, which helped me develop the skills needed to take accurate notes and keep the meetings on track. I am used to preparing reports and distributing documents for review. I also have project management experience and am well-versed in making space for everyone to have a voice in any discussion.

I am experienced in all aspects of event planning, from hotel contract negotiations to program development and volunteer coordination.

I have a Coaching National D license for soccer. With over twenty years of coaching experience, I bring with me the ability to unite a group around a single goal while making hard work fun and engaging. I preplan my training sessions and keep my players and their families informed throughout the season. I am also able to remain flexible, adjusting my plans based on who actually shows up.

I served as my local soccer club’s treasurer, where I taught myself how to file taxes and government forms to maintain our non-profit status. I also helped the club update their bylaws and plan events.

I have served on non-profit boards in my local community. One is a community theatre, where we navigated the path forward during COVID-19 and made decisions to ensure the theatre survived. I was involved in updating policies, working the front of house during shows, and fundraising. I also served the board of an organization that provides grants to teachers in our school district for special student projects so they do not have to use their own funds. I also helped the same organization review applications and award scholarships to graduating high school seniors to help pay for college.

With twenty-five years of abstinence, I am well-versed in the Steps and Traditions. (I continue to work on the Concepts.)

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

When I attended my first WSBC, I was in awe of the trustees. When it came time to vote for new trustees, and I saw what was required to apply, I thought, “I want that kind of recovery”. I am very grateful to say today that I qualify to run for trustee.

I am excited to be a part of carrying the message in the 21st Century. As OA moves toward embracing technology to spread awareness and create a more visible global presence, I believe I have a lot to add to the conversation. We are not a secret society! I envision a day when we mention OA in a conversation, and nobody says, “OA? What is that? I’ve never heard of it.” They instead say something like, “Oh! I love them! They helped my loved one find peace around food.”

Service has always been a crucial part of my recovery. It is what keeps me coming back. I feel it is my responsibility to do what I can to ensure that OA’s doors remain open, not only for those who haven’t found us yet, but also for those of us who depend on OA to remain in recovery. I need this Fellowship because I cannot recover in isolation. My connection with my Higher Power and my fellows help keep me in the spirituality fit condition that then allows me to live free of the obsession. Service beyond the group level has slowly given me the skills I need to take on this honor and responsibility.

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

My anorexia began when I was twelve years old. The bulimia began when my mom started insisting that I eat with the family. My disease progressed until my body gave out and I realized I was unable to stop purging. I attended my first OA meeting in a treatment center. After attending a weekly outside support group, I realized that no one was getting better. I remembered OA and found a local meeting.

I spent the next two years attending meetings six days a week and could not stay abstinent. It wasn’t until I found a sponsor and worked the Steps that I found lasting abstinence. My sponsor was the first person I was able to be completely honest with. I struggled with the idea that I could define my own Higher Power. This was simply not allowed in my family. With the help of my sponsor, I was able to give myself permission to consider the possibility. Still, it took me six months to develop a Higher Power that I trusted enough to completely surrender. During that time, I worked the Steps while building a relationship of trust in a power greater than myself. Slowly but surely I did the footwork and left the results to the God of my understanding. Today, I know that if I am irritable, restless, or discontent, it is because my will has taken over and my disease has already begun to drown out the loving voice of my HP. Even in my darkest moments, I know to my core that my HP will never fail me. My job to have faith and follow directions.

My emotional recovery is evidenced by my interactions with others. Before program, I was a worthless being who did not deserve the space she took up in the world. I lied constantly and did not keep my commitments. I expected the world to adjust to me and was at a loss when it did not. I became whoever you needed me to be so you would stay in my life. I lived in fear that you would find out what a fraud I was. Today, I live a life of integrity. I do my best to be kind, thoughtful, and loving – even in difficult conversations. I do not feel the need to hide or change who I am to keep you in my life. I believe in myself and in my HP’s guidance.

I’ve spent the last thirty years sponsoring others, giving service, and doing my best to live the message of recovery. When I first walked into OA, I had a life that I was small and empty. One that I did not believe was worth saving. Today, I have a life that is not only worth living, it is one full of joy and love. I owe it all to my Higher Power, this amazing program, and to the Fellowship of OA.

Home: Oregon, USA
Years in OA: 33
Years of service beyond the group level: 26
Date continuous abstinence began: January 2010
Date maintenance began: January 2015

Summary of OA service responsibilities

Meeting: Served as treasurer, intergroup representative, member of event committees, maintained the phone list, and served as speaker and virtual host

Intergroup: Served as chair for 4 years, event coordinator for 2 years, and participated in Twelfth Step Within and Budget Committees for several years

Region One: Served as assembly representative for 3 years and was on the budget/finance team for 2 years; held convention cochair, speaker, and registrar roles; served as retreat leader; served as chair for years, helped develop the Region One intergroup renewal process, and co-led workshops; acted as board liaison to the Assembly Notebook, Bylaws, and PIPO Committees; served as technology coordinator for 2 years, migrating the region to Google Workspace, and led the transition to self-publishing assembly notebooks and journals

World Service: Served as delegate for 4 years, on the Region Chairs Committee for 4 years (chair for 2 years), strategic planning for 2 years, professional outreach for 1 year, and Twelfth Step within for 2 years (including as Simplicity Project Subcommittee chair)

Board of Trustees: Liaison to Region One for 3 years, serve as treasurer and Executive Committee member (elected May 2025), Delegate Support Fund chair, member of Website Review and Strategic Planning Committees (led the Joy of Service e-magazine project); served as Bylaws Committee and Reference Subcommittee cochair for 2 years, on Public Awareness/Professional Tradeshows Committee for 2 years, Board Approved Literature Committee for 2 years (led Recovery: What Works for You? survey project), and on the 2025 World Service Convention Committee

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

Leadership and Project Management: Experienced in project and event coordination, budgeting, and financial oversight. I enjoy helping groups generate ideas, focus on options, and make decisions with an emphasis on sharing experience, connections, and resources to empower others in service. I look for and encourage creative solutions and enjoy turning the impossible into the possible.

Technical Skills: Website building and administration (Weebly), OA Facebook page administration and ad placements, Word, Excel, Google Workspace administration, Constant Contact, JotForm, Canva, Audacity (sound editing), Amazon/KDP self-publishing, SurveyMonkey, and graphic design.

Work and Education: Administrative, insurance (aviation property/casualty), credit/collections, and sales positions; owned and operated an online sales business; coursework in website design; Montana State University coursework in Business Education (4 years).

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

Many years ago, a sponsor said to me, “Show me that you love OA.” For me, service is a way to do that, and I see it as part of my Seventh Tradition contribution. OA service has shown me that I have much to offer. It has revealed my strengths, given me new skills and a sense of purpose, and helped me grow in recovery.

I am passionate about OA’s primary purpose and enjoy seeing service efforts make a tangible difference in members’ recovery. I am committed to helping remove obstacles so OA is available to everyone who needs it. Serving on the Board of Trustees allows me to help care for OA, ensuring it continues to thrive and be available for the next generation. I strive to be a problem-solver with a vision for the future, helping OA adapt, grow, and shine in a changing world. I value participating in thoughtful, action-oriented discussions about what is best for OA as a whole, assisting in getting resources to members who need them, and collaborating with others who share a deep love for OA.

Thank you for considering my application for re-election. I would love to continue this meaningful service for another term.

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

I’ve been in OA for thirty-three years, am maintaining a weight loss of 80-90 pounds, and have been abstinent since January 2010.

When I came to OA, my food was out of control, my relationships were in crisis, and I had no self-esteem. I spent years with on-again, off-again abstinence, twice losing 100 pounds only to regain it quickly, but I kept going to meetings even if I had to cry all the way through. These experiences gave me a great deal of compassion for members experiencing relapse.

Around fifteen years in the program, with the help of my sponsor, I began to stabilize. I stopped struggling to define a higher power and began trying to live according to simple spiritual values (gratitude, compassion, kindness, balance) and the Principles of the Steps. I worked hard to stay in my feelings and learned about uncomfortable emotions are survivable. My sponsor encouraged me to “get out of my own head” and begin sponsoring others.

A big part of my recovery has been Step Seven, which I call the “self-esteem Step.” Incorporating this Step into my life meant putting down self-criticism and no longer letting FEAR (of rejection, making mistakes, looking foolish, or unmet needs) run my life. Over time, I began to accept myself as an imperfect person, working my program to the best of my ability and taking one step at a time. I also realized that, as hard as I was on myself, I had been hard on others. Recovery in relationships, with myself and others, has meant letting go of control and judgment, and I’ve been amazed at the difference this attitude has made. Gratitude helps me shift my outlook and return to peace.

Not every day is perfect, and it doesn’t have to be; I have my program, including the Tenth Step, to help me through. I like myself today! I recognize my positive qualities and know I can make a meaningful contribution, both in and outside of OA. What a gift, thank you, OA.

Home: Florida, USA
Years in OA: 37
Years of service beyond the group level: 36
Date continuous abstinence began: August 2012
Date maintenance began: Many years ago

Summary of OA service responsibilities

I was first appointed to the Board of Trustees in June of 2022, then elected in April of 2023. Throughout that time, I have served as the trustee liaison to the Virtual Region, a service which has allowed me to work with a number of service boards and service bodies. During this time I served on the One Piece Literature Ad Hoc Committee, the Board Approved Literature Committee (three times), the Conference Planning Committee, the Board Reference Manual Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, the International Publications and Translations Committee, chaired the Unity with Diversity Committee, the 2025 Convention Committee, currently chair the Public Information/Professional Outreach Committee (PIPO), and the Public Awareness/Professional Tradeshows Committee.

I have brought several significant motions before the Board of Trustees, but what I am most proud of is a motion (assisted by another trustee and a Convention delegate) which led to the material on our website being available now in forty-seven languages. During my tenure on the board, OA world service has made strides toward acting and thinking in a more global manner. We have a ways to go. But much has been done.

Before becoming a trustee I was a delegate to the World Service Business Conference four times and served on both the Conference Approved Literature Committee, the Public Information Committee, and the Professional Outreach Committee. Serving in Region Eight, I was the Bylaws and Electronic Documents Committee chair and PIPO chair. I served as Region Eight parliamentarian for one year and also chaired the Region Eight Assembly/Convention for Miami-Dade and the Keys Intergroup three times.

At Miami-Dade and the Keys Intergroup, I have served as chair four times (not consecutively), vice chair, treasurer, convention chair, and region representative ten times or more (not consecutively). At the group level, I have held every position available and have started several meetings.

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

I have a PhD in American Literature and Creative Writing. I am a retired college professor having taught literature and writing for twenty-seven years. My writing background is primarily in short fiction and screen writing, but I have been able to use such craft in OA service, writing committee material to be distributed to the Fellowship, and producing a short silent film promoting the 2025 World Service Convention. I like to think that those years in a college classroom gave me experience working with various groups of people. I have developed a communication style that is direct and transparent, if not always pleasant. People do know where I stand. Late in my career, I became a part owner in a very successful small business and know well the pressures of meeting deadlines (payroll), and have some experience with smart investment strategies. Most importantly, I know what I don’t know and know who to ask for answers. I was taught that part of being self-supporting is knowing when and who to ask for help, and I do so regularly.

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

In my first application, I said that I felt called to do this work. I still do. I really can’t explain how I know I belong here. I would like to tell you that my work on the board is always pleasant; it’s not. I have found this the most emotionally challenging period of my recovery since my early years in OA. Far from some big ego trip, it’s the most humbling experience I’ve had since my first Third Step thirty-seven years ago. But there is something so fulfilling about knowing my God is using whatever limited skills I might have in the service of this program I love so much, that I do want to continue.

The Board of Trustees’ primary responsibilities are to oversee the administration of OA, that is, the business of OA and, most importantly, carrying out the will of the body of OA, as expressed at the World Service Business Conference and elsewhere. And that is so thrilling: finding ways to do what you ask us to do; carry the message to places where it had previously been unavailable; make our literature more affordable and accessible; assure that the Fellowship is inclusive and welcoming; protect the image of OA and be a guardian of our Steps, Traditions, and Concepts. As a trustee liaison, I get to do all this while also responding to individual members with concerns for their own recovery, their own meetings, and their own service bodies. All this without sacrificing the privileges of membership in the OA Fellowship, the opportunity to stand as an example of God’s power, love, and way of life. Frankly, who wouldn’t want this job?

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

I had decided to commit suicide by August 1988 if nothing changed. I was 34 years old, weighed 340 lbs (154.22 kg, 24.3 stone), and filled with rage and self-loathing. More than the weight, I couldn’t live with the bitterness and self-hatred. August 1, 1988 by what only could have been an act of providence, I ended up in a treatment center for eating disorders, and that night, they brought me to my first OA meeting. I did not like the meeting. I thought it was too “cute,” too feminine, but the speaker, who became my first sponsor, said something that in all my years of dieting I had never heard before. He said, “the obsession had been removed.”

I am now 71 (72 by the time you’re reading this) and weigh about half what I did then. I am literally half the man I used to be. But I still know now what I knew then: that unless the obsession is removed, I am doomed to binge again. Working and living the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous has freed me of the obsession and forced me to work on myself. I continue to face, pray about, and work on a long list of character defects. I find the more I work on my self-righteousness, the less I have to worry about standing in front of the refrigerator debating an extra bite. I spend time every morning and every evening with my god, and we talk with one another throughout the day. I rely on Him and, through God’s grace, have come to love and trust myself. I am almost daily involved in some activity carrying the message of twelve-step recovery. I was taught early on, “if you’re having problems practicing these principles in all your affairs, change your affairs.” The Twelve Steps and Traditions have become my way of life. The result is that I am foot-stomping happy the majority of the time, and live a life of sane and happy usefulness. The Tenth Step in the OA 12 and 12 promises permanent recovery. My survivors will have to let you know if my recovery was permanent or not, but for now it seems to be working, one day at a time. I am so grateful for this fact; my heart feels like it’s bursting. Thank you for the opportunity you’ve offered me, and I hope you decide to offer me a second term.

Home: Texas, USA
Years in OA: 9
Years of service beyond the group level: 7
Date continuous abstinence began: June 2017
Date maintenance began: May 2018

Summary of OA service responsibilities

Group Level: Secretary, treasurer, program chair; helped organize several new OA meetings, including the first specific-focus anorexia/bulimia meeting in Russian and the first Zoom meeting in Russian

Intergroup/Region Level: Represented Heart of Texas Intergroup at four Region Three assemblies and served on the Bylaws, Ways and Means/Finance, Public Information/Professional Outreach, and Twelfth Step Within Committees

National Service Board Level: Collaborated with Region Nine trustee and members of OA Russia to organize and register a new service body, National Service Board of Russia; served as communications secretary and as chair of the new NSB; collaborated with the literature committee to help translate, edit, and publish OA literature in Russian; created a website for the NSB; assisted in registering OA as a non-profit organization in Russia; helped organize the first assembly of the NSB; secured funding for first World Service Business Conference (WSBC) delegate from Ukraine and first OA Russia delegate from Israel

World Service Level: Served for four years as a delegate to the WSBC from Heart of Texas Intergroup, where I served on the Unity with Diversity (where I also served as secretary of the outreach subcommittee), Young Adults, and Bylaws Committees, including two years of service on the Reference Subcommittee; urrently serve on the Website Review and Strategic Planning Committees of the Board of Trustees

Eight years’ service as a sponsor to OA members in three countries.

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

I am definitely a people person, and I love sharing my light with those I encounter, both in my professional and personal life. Over the course of my career, I have developed the interpersonal and organizational skills needed to work efficiently and effectively in a variety of group settings. I listen carefully and am open to new ideas and fresh approaches to problem-solving. When asked to speak, I explain my thoughts clearly and concisely. Overall, my emotional regulation skills, coupled with curiosity and a desire to really hear and meet people where they are, allow me to maintain my serenity during stressful situations and to contribute to a healthy, collaborative environment.

Having supervised others throughout my career, I have developed the servant leadership skills necessary for success as a trustee: strong listening skills, empathy, and attunement. Furthermore, I have worked with and supervised people of all ages, both as a language instructor in the United States and as a resident director of study-abroad programs in Latvia and Russia. This experience working across generations as well as cultures helps me connect with fellow trustees on the board and better understand the needs of OA members from around the world.

Having spent time professionally not only in education but also in the private sector, I have developed the necessary business acumen to assess situations, make informed decisions, and work toward achieving desired outcomes. Having earned degrees in three languages and lived, volunteered, or studied extensively in several different countries, I have learned to connect with people from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Overall, I believe that my zest for life, passion for people, and recovery in OA will contribute to my success as a trustee. I look forward to joining forces with my fellow trustees as we support the Fellowship in its efforts to carry the message of recovery to those who still suffer.

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

What most excites me about continuing my service as a trustee is the opportunity to put my service experience in OA, particularly the knowledge I have acquired while serving in two different OA regions, to good use. Having witnessed firsthand the unique challenges faced by meetings and service bodies outside of North America through my service in Region Nine, I am eager to share ideas about how to foster OA unity around the world. Having also served in Region Three, I have developed a deep understanding of the inner workings of the Fellowship in the United States and have explored the needs of OA members here at home. I believe the knowledge and experience I have gleaned during service in both these regions will allow me to bring valuable insights to the Board of Trustees that will allow the board to better meet the needs of our Fellowship. I look forward to contributing my time, resources, and motivation to help the OA Fellowship thrive, so that others might find hope and healing through our program of recovery.

I affirm that I have worked all Twelve Steps, and that I practice the Twelve Steps to the best of my ability. I am also fully committed to the Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous and to serving in accordance with the Traditions and Concepts of OA Service.

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

I arrived at my first OA meeting in 2017 feeling helpless, hopeless, and broken. On the outside, I had all the trappings of a good life, but inside, I felt miserable and desperate for relief from the emotional chaos of a life that revolved around eating. In OA, I felt my first glimmer of hope. Attending meetings, finding a sponsor, and working the program in earnest led to an 85-pound weight loss and opened a new world of possibilities. Today, by living the Twelve Step program, nurturing a close relationship with a loving higher power, and using the OA Tools of recovery, I maintain a healthy body weight, enjoy emotional serenity, and wake up each day eager to be of service to others.

My spiritual recovery in OA has been a source of comfort and inspiration. Instead of stumbling through life with no clear sense of direction, I have learned to discern and follow the Higher Power’s will for my life. As I turn my will and my life over to the care of God each day, I experience a fantastic journey of healing and recovery.

My emotional recovery in OA has utterly transformed how I feel about myself and others. I have repaired and strengthened relationships, made life-changing amends to those I have hurt or betrayed, and learned to accept life on life’s terms. My deepened capacity to accept people as they are has allowed me to achieve abstinence and serenity that I never imagined possible.

The physical recovery I have experienced in OA has been every bit as miraculous as my spiritual and emotional recovery. During the early months of my OA program, I watched in wonder as my body was transformed. Now that I have a relationship with a loving higher power, I feel safer, even without the fat, than I have ever felt before. For me, this feeling of felt safety in the world has been one of the greatest miracles I have experienced in OA.

Today, I am a living testimony to the power of the OA program of recovery. My connection to my higher power fills me with love and light, which I radiate into the world as a beacon of hope for others. Thank you, Overeaters Anonymous, for the gift of this beautiful new life.

Home: California, USA
Years in OA: 10
Years of service beyond the group level: 8
Date continuous abstinence began: September 12, 2015
Date maintenance began: May 6, 2023

Summary of OA service responsibilities

My OA service began as soon as I started attending meetings on a regular basis. I always arrived early to set up the room, greet newcomers, and foster their interest in our literature, which I had purchased and read. Over time, I took on various service commitments: treasurer, secretary, speaker seeker, and Zoom host for online and hybrid meetings. As often as I can, I speak when invited. With another fellow, I started a meeting in California Central Coast Intergroup. In 2020, I began sponsoring.

My service at the intergroup level began as a meeting representative to South Bay Intergroup in 2017. From 2017-2020, I was the intergroup treasurer; from 2023-2025, I was the chair. I served as Thanksgiving marathon chair multiple years, including collaborating with San Fernando Valley Intergroup in 2024. In 2023, I served as meeting representative at East Bay Unity Intergroup.

From 2020-2024, I served Region Two as representative from South Bay Intergroup. From 2020-2023, I served on the Region Two diversity community leadership team, where I led the DC data subteam, and we developed survey workshops, including the second workshop in two languages (English and Español). In 2024, I served Region Two as Intergroup Outreach Committee chair and secretary.

I attended the 2024 and 2025 World Service Business Conferences as South Bay Intergroup of Region Two delegate, first serving on the Unity with Diversity Committee and then on the Bylaws Committee/Reference Subcommittee.

Service above the meeting level gives me opportunities to grow my program network and personally practice principles, not personalities. I am committed to the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA and the Twelve Concepts of OA Service and practicing these principles in all my affairs.

I can bring the following business, professional or other experience, and skill to the board

I currently work part-time as an aerospace engineering consultant. I retired in 2020 after over thirty years of project leadership experience in satellite electronics manufacturing. I have led large teams in supply chain management, information technology, and space systems integration and test. I managed cost, schedule, and quality while mitigating risk factors and preparing products for shipment to the launch site. I’m proficient in computer applications, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple products.

I am currently serving in my second year as president of my homeowners association after serving three years as vice president. Our community has nearly 500 units with an annual budget of $5M.

I have also served on the business board of my faith community.

During college, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, located midway up the California coast, I was able to learn more of our state geography when hearing about other students’ different home towns. My graduate classmates at the University of Southern California were international and from different industries, opening my eyes to new cultures and knowledge. I have many experiences bringing different groups together to listen and learn from each other. Early in my career, I brought together engineering and manufacturing teams to develop understanding of each other’s vocabulary and needs. Later in my career, during program start-up activities, I brought together the customer and production teams to establish schedules that assured the giver was cognizant of what the receiver needed and when. The Region Two diversity community greatly values hearing each other’s perspectives. I joined the Region Two Bylaws Committee to build consensus on changing from the traditional chair and vice chair committee structure to recognize the leadership team paradigm.

I would like to be a trustee for the following reasons

I want everyone to feel the unconditional love, acceptance, and understanding in the rooms that I feel. I was very touched when I heard the OA promise at the end of my first meeting: tapping into “power and strength greater than ours” and finding “love and understanding beyond our wildest dreams”.

I want Region Two to be represented, and I seek to build unity within the region and within our international Fellowship. I will reach out to intergroups, service bodies, and groups who are not actively participating to understand why. I will provide loving support. This is the compassionate response, akin to the twelfth step within and intergroup outreach. It is an honor to have been asked to apply. I understand I may not be assigned to my geographical region.

I am eager to work with the Website Review Committee in order to reach out to meetings and service bodies that have not been in contact with the World Service Office (WSO). I will express love, empathy, and support, listen to their needs, encourage, help problem solve, connect them with the WSO, WSBC, and/or region, national, intergroup, or specific focus participation, if desired.

I use the scientific formula E = MC2 as a reminder to myself that listening with empathy means mouth closed, no really, mouth closed. (My formula acronym is imperfect.) After listening, I share my experience, strength, and hope.

Brief account of my OA recovery story—physical, emotional, and spiritual

I came to program August 31, 2015, powerless over food and my teenage daughter. I was fortunate that within two weeks of joining I attended the ABC’s of Abstinence workshop, where we discussed an abstinence definition lived perfectly with higher power and a food plan lived imperfectly.

I worked the Steps and implemented swaps in my eating and behavior as led by HP and my sponsor. I released about 50-65 pounds in the first two years and then started gaining for two years, getting back up to 30 pounds below my weight when I entered program. Then in 2020, a miracle happened: my HP gave me the willingness to start a no-sugar food plan, doing what had worked for others for a lasting recovery. In 2023, I achieved my goal weight of 85 pounds released. I’m currently working on building core strength and increasing flexibility to maintain mobility.

In 2019, I completed the Steps for the first time. It took me three and a half years to write my first Fourth Step inventory. My HP used this time to change my heart and turn me away from the anger, frustration, resentment, and control that I previously used as coping mechanisms. HP taught me instead to pursue peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, humility, and compassion, as well as to practice the pause. HP changed
my identity, silencing my negative self-talk. HP is enough. I am enough. I have enough God-given time, talent, skill, strength, willingness, and ability today to be and do all my Higher Power wills for me to be and do today, and that is enough. In 2020, I got a new sponsor and completed the Steps again. With my irritability caused by sugar and excess food reduced, HP increases my acceptance and forgiveness of self and others. Today I am practicing the Twelve Steps to the best of my ability, seeking my HP’s guidance by praying the Step Three, Seven, and Eleven prayers. I send my daily Step Ten inventory to my sponsor. It is a rigorously honest assessment of “my-part,” including photos of my food and gratitude.

My HP uses OA to teach me to handle life issues without excess food. I haven’t had chocolate or sugar in five years. The benefits are emotional acceptance, spiritual peace, and stable weight.