Christina Simos
Christina Simos is a leader, connector, and a disruptor to the status quo. As a student at Arizona State University in the 90’s, Christina founded Students Against Discrimination (S.A.D.). This group held the largest social justice rally on ASU’s campus and was responsible for creating social justice policies and changes that still stand today. She graduated with a BA in Journalism and was recognized by her alma mater and various organizations including the Lambda League for her work.
In June of 2005, Christina entered the Friendly House as a resident. There she was mentored by Friendly House’s former Executive Director Peggy Albrecht and quickly immersed herself in the recovery world. “Peggy mentored me, loved me and helped me be the woman I am today. I never left this house because it saved my life.” Over the last 17 years Christina has been the alumni coordinator, alumni president, secretary of their women’s AA meeting, helped produce various Grateful Hearts fundraisers and has remained a fixture in the recovery community. She currently is a Board of Directors member of the West Hollywood Recovery Center, LGBTQ+ Association of Mental Health Professionals, the National Association of Treatment Providers Board of Directors and is on the NAATP DEIB committee. Christina is also known for her singing and her love of dodgeball.
In 2013 Christina started working in treatment as a detox technician. Over the last decade she has held a variety of jobs, learning every aspect of the treatment industry from HR/compliance, management, admissions, marketing/business development to operations. As Director of Operations, one of her proudest achievements was helping a well-functioning recovery environment become a first-class treatment center through the creation of policies, acquiring licensures and ASAM certification, and ensuring that the staff was as inclusive and diverse as the population served.
In April of 2021, Christina returned home to the Friendly House to take on the role as Admissions and Business Development Manager. In January of 2022, she became the 4th Executive Director of the Friendly house and is one of the few women of culture to hold an Executive level position in this industry.
