North Star Connect Symposium
Thursday, May 21st, 2026
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Swinomish Casino & Lodge
Join us for our second annual symposium and be part of creating a thriving Skagit County for all!
Network and Collaborate: Connect with people from various sectors making a difference in our community, including government, first responders, tribes, healthcare, education, community service, recovery, and more.
Learn and Engage: Increase your knowledge and skills by attending one of the many workshops led by renowned behavioral health and housing experts and other local leaders.
Symposium agenda coming soon!
Learn more about the keynote speakers!
Learn more about the keynote speakers!
Dr. Achara-Abrahams has more than a decade of experience helping behavioral health systems move from reactive to recovery-oriented approaches.
As Director of Strategic Planning at the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, Dr. Achara led Philadelphia’s cutting-edge recovery-oriented system of care (ROSC) transformation effort, which included managing the change process, designing and implementing strategies to empower people in recovery to play integral roles in systems change and to expand and integrate peer services, and aligning policies and clinical practices with a recovery-orientation.
Prior to leading Philadelphia’s successful ROSC transformation, Dr. Achara was a faculty member in the Yale School of Medicine Program on Recovery and Community Health, where she supported Connecticut’s recovery transformation efforts. Learn more about her work here.
Christopher Poulos is the Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Human Dignity. He previously served as Director of Person-Centered Services at the Washington State Department of Corrections and as Executive Director of the Washington Statewide Reentry Council. He has also taught drug law and policy at Seattle University School of Law.
Poulos has worked as an attorney, professor, and policy advisor, including serving with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, where he helped redesign stigmatizing federal language related to addiction and justice system involvement. He has also advised U.S. Senator Angus King on addiction and justice policy.
Before his legal career, Poulos experienced addiction, homelessness, and federal incarceration. He now dedicates his work to supporting recovery, reentry, and a public health approach to addiction and justice reform. His work and story have been featured by national media outlets including The Today Show, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Learn more about his work here.