Mobilize Recovery

AUGUST 18 – 20

Las Vegas, NV

Mobilize Recovery is back...

A place to

Each year, hundreds of recovery advocates are selected to attend Mobilize Recovery, an annual convening to learn innovative strategies and tactics for grassroots organizing. You’ll connect with other recovery leaders and gain access to new tools to streamline your organizing and advocacy work.

Mobilize Recovery is an initiative of The Voices Project & Recovery Advocacy Project. Together, we partner with leading advocacy organizations to invest in recovery leaders like you.

What to expect

Digital Strategy

Take your advocacy digital to win the hearts and minds of new advocates, stakeholders, and key decision makers. From communication, social media, design, and data.

Mobilizing Grassroots

All movements consist of robust constituencies of grassroots supporters. You'll learn from leading community organizers so you can organize and mobilize for change.

Organizing Tactics

Do you ever wonder where to start? Do you know how to organize a strategic initiative from planning through execution? Hear from experts about the many successful tactics that make up winning strategies.

Workshops & Collaboration

You'll work closely with a small cohort of other Mobilizers from all areas of experience and backgrounds. Small workshops give attendees a safe environment to learn. We believe the diversity of our movement makes us more resilient.

Join hundreds of other Mobilizers

apply to attend

Aleksandra Bembnista

Connecticut

At Mobilize Recovery, Aleksandra gained tools to help build her leadership, train and organize volunteers, and mobilize her community. “We’re normal people learning to help others,” she said. After the Las Vegas event, her tactics changed; she’s applied the lessons she learned from presenters and lecturers, especially in Glorious Recovery’s media presence. Aleksandra emphasizes that recovery is normal, healthy, and desirable, and should be accessible to everyone. By normalizing recovery through her outreach to over 1,000 people, weekly events, and training outreach ambassadors who work with up to 50 people at a time, she is eliminating the stigma attached to addiction and improving health outcomes for people with substance use disorder.

Chekesha "Kay" Ellis

New Jersey

Chekesha “Kay” Ellis is a family support specialist in the Baltimore area and a woman in recovery. Since Mobilize Recovery, she’s gained traction as a voice for her community and built a platform for her advocacy, She’s been featured in Recovery Today magazine, numerous local news stories, and a documentary produced by Purdue University. In September, National Recovery Month, Kay was one of eight recovery advocates featured in Google’s Recover Together project – sharing her story at the YouTube Studio in L.A. which reached thousands in the first month. Kay says that one of the most helpful takeaways from Mobilize Recovery is the friendships and new connections that she continues to rely on for advice and support through social media and weekly phone calls.

Chekesha "Kay" Ellis

New Jersey

Westgate Resort & Casino

Mobilizers are convening at the Westgate Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, August 18 – 20.

Accelerate your advocacy.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Where and when does the event take place?

Mobilize Recovery will be held at the Westgate Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are recommending attendees arrive on Monday, August 17. The program will start on Tuesday, August 18 and will go through Thursday, August 20.

Who is the Mobilize Recovery for?

People in recovery, harm reductionists, families and allies impacted by substance use. Anyone who wants to make a difference in their community on drug policy and recovery advocacy.

How do I register to attend?

Each year, we accept applications from hundreds of recovery advocates from across the country. Applications close Sunday, May 10, and selected participants will be notified shortly after applications close.

What's the cost to attend?

Selected participants do not pay to attend Mobilize Recovery. Participants are asked to cover their airfare, ground transport, and lodging. Block room rates will be available at a discounted price at the Westgate Resort and Casino. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Some full and partial scholarships are available to cover theses costs. If you need financial assistance, please include this in your application.

Where should I stay if I'm selected?

You may choose from the many hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, however, the event will be held at Westgate Resort and Casino. Block room rates will be available at the Westgate Resort and Casino.

Why Mobilize Recovery?

We want to train and give YOU the tools to make sustainable, real change in your community; connect with emerging leaders from across the country; and develop a plan of action that we can work on together to inspire recovery and end the preventable overdose crisis in America.

Addiction is a crisis of epidemic proportions and shows no sign of slowing down. It affects people of every race, class, social group, religion, and gender. It does not discriminate. Currently, 23 million Americans are in sustained recovery from substance use disorder. Another 22 million are suffering from this highly preventable, treatable illness. One in every three households includes a person with substance use disorder; beyond the home, the prevalence of addiction affects almost everyone. From healthcare systems overloaded with people desperate for help, to criminal justice courts crammed with people who need treatment instead of jail time, our society is burdened by the stigma of addiction.

Without civic engagement, organization, and recovery advocacy, millions of people will never access the life-saving support they need. Currently, less than 10 percent of people will ever seek medical help of any kind for their addiction. Hundreds of people lose their lives daily, leaving behind family members, friends, loved ones, children, and community members. Yet, when the recovery community organizes, reform is possible. Activists have successfully accessed funding for recovery supports, effective and ethical standards for treatment, and changes to employment processes. When recovery speaks, people listen.

What if I don't know anything about advocacy?

That’s A-OK! We balance the experience and skills of participants and offer trainings for the novice and experienced.

What should I bring with me?

Be Comfortable: Bring comfortable and breathable clothes. The summers in Las Vegas can reach high temperatures.

Business Cards: Remember that you’ll be with hundreds of other passionate advocates, make sure to bring some business cards to hand out.

Laptop: It’s not required, but if you have one and you’re able to travel with it we suggest you bring one. You’ll use it for taking notes and some of the activities in the breakout sessions.