Speaker's Profile

Alice "Polly" Jessen is a person in long-term recovery from substance use, self-harm, and co-occurring mental health challenges. She currently serves as Director of Peer Initiatives for Fairview Housing’s Lifestyle Recovery Programs in Southwest Virginia, where she leads the development, supervision, and integration of Medicaid-billable peer support services within residential substance use treatment settings. A Registered Peer Recovery Specialist in Virginia and Certified Peer Recovery Specialist in Tennessee, Polly brings cross-state workforce insight and implementation experience to advancing peer services as a sustainable and ethical component of behavioral health systems.With more than a decade of professional experience across residential treatment, mobile crisis response, community mental health, and program development, Polly focuses on strengthening peer workforce infrastructure through reflective supervision models, role clarity, strengths-based documentation practices, and alignment with person-centered recovery planning. Her work emphasizes protecting the integrity of peer roles while supporting organizations in scaling peer services responsibly and effectively.A passionate advocate for recovery-informed systems change, Polly uses her lived experience alongside clinical and operational leadership to expand access to peer support, reduce stigma, and promote workforce approaches that honor multiple pathways of recovery while improving engagement, safety, and outcomes across treatment environments.