Poverty and the Opioid Crisis

Experience the Event

Presented by

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 12:00 pm

Uncover the foundations of the Opioid Settlement, how and why they were established, the challenges they have faced, and what success looks like as community leaders move forward with their individual missions.

The opioid epidemic has devastated communities across the United States. The National Opioids Settlement and other settlement agreements have created a sense of hope for families and communities affected by the opioid crisis and provided a profound opportunity for states across the nation to begin to repair the damage the epidemic has wrought.

This event was the opening discussion at the University of Notre Dame’s Summit on the Opioids Settlement: A Pathway to Hope which focused on how to most effectively distribute the nearly $50 billion in settlement dollars to maximize the impact on our communities and citizens.

Held in August 2024, this summit brought together attorneys general from across the country to discuss best practices to proactively evaluate the efficacy of opioid abatement programs and develop strategies to best distribute the funds. Led by the University of Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, the summit explores how evidence-based practices can inform decision making and ensure that the Opioids Settlement best helps those victims it is meant to serve.

Speakers:

• Jim Sullivan ’93, director of the Poverty Initiative, academic director and co-founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame
• Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame
• Rev. Edward “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame
• David Go ’01, vice president and associate provost for academic strategy and the Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame
• Jonathan Board, Executive Director, West Virginia First Foundation
• Don Mason, Board Chair, One Ohio Recovery Foundation
• Alisha Nelson, Executive Director, One Ohio Recovery Foundation

Meet the Faculty: James Sullivan '93

Jim Sullivan ’93 is the director of Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, a Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame and Co-Founder and Director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), which is a research center that works with service providers and policymakers to identify effective and scalable solutions to reduce poverty in America. He serves on the National Poverty Research Center Advisory Board and was a member of the U.S. Commission on Social Impact Partnerships. His research examines the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs at the national, state, and local level. He also studies the consumption, saving, and borrowing behavior of poor households, as well as poverty and inequality measurement. Sullivan teaches intermediate microeconomics and advanced labor economics at the undergraduate level and public economics at the graduate level. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Meet the Speaker: President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

In December 2023, the University’s Board of Trustees elected Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., as Notre Dame’s 18th president, effective June 1, 2024. He also serves as professor of political science. Prior to serving as president, he was vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives.

In his role as vice president and associate provost, he oversaw the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, iNDustry Labs, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, the McGrath Institute for Church Life, the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center, the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, the ROTC programs, and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. He also directed the approval and review process of institutes and centers more generally.

Father Dowd was previously an assistant provost for internationalization with Notre Dame International, where his primary responsibilities included leadership of the Dublin Global Gateway, Kylemore Abbey Global Centre, and the São Paulo Global Center along with planning for future engagement with Africa.

The author of the book Christianity, Islam, and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa, Father Dowd focuses his research on African politics, ethnic politics, and the relationship between religion, political institutions, national identity, and human development. His current research explores religion and the integration of migrants/refugees in Europe and North America and the effects of faith-based schools on citizenship and civic engagement in Africa.

He is the founder of Notre Dame’s Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity and a fellow of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies in the University’s Keough School of Global Affairs.

A Notre Dame alum, Father Dowd earned an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and was ordained a Holy Cross priest in 1994. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from UCLA.

Meet the Faculty: Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C.

Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., completed his 18^th and final year as president of the University of Notre Dame on July 1, 2005. He now serves as president emeritus. As the University’s 16^th president, Father Malloy was elected by the Board of Trustees in 1986, having served five years as vice president and associate provost. Father Malloy is a full professor in the Department of Theology and has been a member of the faculty since 1974. As president emeritus, he continues to teach, conducting a seminar for first-year undergraduates each semester, and he makes his home in a student residence hall on campus.

He is the author of more than 50 articles and book chapters, the editor or co-editor of two books, and has published eleven books. Father Malloy earned his doctorate in Christian ethics from Vanderbilt University in 1975, and Vanderbilt honored him in 1998 with the establishment of a chair in Catholic studies in his name. He has also been awarded 25 honorary degrees. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Notre Dame in 1963 and 1967, and a second master’s degree, in theology, in 1969 while studying for the priesthood. He was ordained to the priesthood in Sacred Heart Basilica on campus in 1970.

Father Malloy’s service to higher education has been long-standing and presently includes membership on the boards of the University of Portland, St. Thomas University, Notre Dame Australia, and our own Notre Dame Board of Trustees. In 2009, he completed service of two terms on the Vanderbilt board. In addition, during his 18 years as President of the University of Notre Dame, he played a leadership role in many of the major higher education associations, including the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), Campus Compact, the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and various committees of the NCAA. 

Father Malloy also played a leadership role in efforts to promote community service and combat substance abuse. In addition to his involvement in Campus Compact, his roles in encouraging social service have included activity with AmeriCorps, Points of Light Foundation, the board of governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and activity connected to the 1997 President’s Service Summit in Philadelphia.

In combating substance abuse, Father Malloy has been a member of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, President Bush’s Advisory Council on Drugs, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the Governor’s Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana, and he is currently a member of the board of the Center on Addiction, (formerly National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse) at Columbia University, for which he has chaired a number of commissions, particularly dealing with substance abuse among adolescents and among college and university students. He has also been co-chair of a major study on college drinking for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In a related matter, he chaired an NCAA committee on sports wagering.

Father Malloy has served the Catholic Church in a number of capacities, including participation on the Ex corde Ecclesiae committee and the Bishops-Presidents committee of the U. S. Catholic Conference.

In 2013 he was appointed to Riley Children’s Hospital Board of Governors and serves on the South Bend Leadership Committee for Riley Children’s Foundation. In August 2008, Father Malloy donated a kidney to his nephew and since then has become an advocate for organ transplantation and been involved in numerous lectures and symposium and served as honorary chair of the National Kidney Foundation of Greater Northern Indiana 2009 Kidney Walk.

Meet the Faculty: David Go '01

David Go ’01 is vice president and associate provost for academic strategy and the Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. His major responsibilities include implementation and execution of the academic elements of the University Strategic Framework and the appointment, reappointment, and promotion process for tenured and tenure-track faculty. Units that report to him include the Lucy Institute for Data and Society, the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, and the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate.

Go is a member of the Provost’s Cabinet and President’s Leadership Committee, and serves on the Provost’s Advisory Committee, Academic Council, Enterprise Risk Committee, Institutional Risk and Compliance Committee, New Program Committee, and Undue Foreign Influence Committee.

Prior to assuming his current role, he was the Director of Graduate Studies and more recently, Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

Go joined Notre Dame’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 2008 and is also concurrent faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Prior to joining Notre Dame, Prof. Go received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2004, and Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 2008. Go also was a design engineer at General Electric from 2001 to 2004, where he was a member of the Edison Engineering Development Program.

Go has published widely in the areas of plasma science and engineering, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, and chemical analysis and holds 7 patents or patent applications, leading to two licensed technologies. Go has been recognized with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Electrochemistry Society Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, the Electrostatics Society of America Rising Star Award, and the IEEE Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society Early Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and former President of the Electrostatics Society of America. At Notre Dame, Go won 2nd place in the 1st Source Bank Commercialization Award, received the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and served as a Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow.

Meet the Speaker: Jonathan Board

Jonathan Board holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from West Virginia University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science from Fairmont State University. He is a well-published author on topics including public health, alternative dispute resolution, and historical legal theory. He has served as a policy advisor for state and federal agencies, providing research and legislative authorship to enhance interoperability, access to care, and technology governance. His consultancy work in health policy spans the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Defense, CMS Innovation Center, and the Government Oversight and Accountability Office. Recently, he held roles as Director of Public Policy for Mon Health System and Vice President of External Affairs for Vandalia Health, before being appointed by Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in March 2024 as Executive Director of the West Virginia First Foundation.

Meet the Speaker: Don Mason

Don Mason, chair of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation Board of Directors, is the mayor of Zanesville. Mason entered politics as a write-in candidate for Zanesville City Council in 1979 and served on the council through 1983, the same year he was elected mayor at age 26. Previously, Mason worked as chief of the Division of Oil and Gas for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and as a member of the Hazardous Waste Facilities Board. As ODNR deputy director, Mason supervised the divisions of Parks, Forestry, Watercraft, Natural Areas and Preserves, and Wildlife. Mason has also represented Ohio on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and served two terms as a commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Mason earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Muskingum University, where he was also the school’s first NCAA All-American wrestler, and later earned his law degree from Capital University.

Mason sees his service on the board as an opportunity to help his often-overlooked part of Ohio: “The most pressing issue in my community is addressing homelessness, mental health and substance abuse issues.”

Meet the Speaker: Alisha Nelson

Alisha Nelson is the Executive Director of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. Nelson, a longtime advocate for improved behavioral health services, brings a long career of public- and private-sector experience to the OneOhio Recovery Foundation Board. Nelson most recently served for nearly two years as Director of Behavioral Health Strategy for one of Ohio’s Medicaid managed care organizations and previously served as director of RecoveryOhio in Governor Mike DeWine’s office where she was responsible for overseeing mental health and addiction-related work across 17 state agencies, boards and commissions. Prior to joining Governor DeWine’s cabinet, Nelson served in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office where she offered statewide technical assistance to communities fighting the opioid epidemic at a time when Ohio had one of the nation’s highest unintentional drug overdose death rates. In the AG’s office, Nelson helped host the “Ideas that Work: Fighting the Drug Epidemic in Ohio” statewide emergency meeting that targeted the state’s more than 950 law enforcement entities, along with dozens of community leaders and directors from fifty Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Boards. Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in strategic communication from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio Dominican University. A native of Akron, Nelson now lives in Central Ohio with her husband and three children.

As OneOhio’s Executive Director, Nelson is committed to improving support for all Ohioans impacted by mental illness and substance use disorders.