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Chief Executive Officer
The Sobering Center Austin
President, National Sobering Collaborative Board of Directors
As the CEO of the Sobering Center of Austin/Travis County, Laura leads innovative efforts to reduce reliance on jails and emergency rooms and expand access to compassionate, recovery-oriented care for people experiencing intoxication and crisis. Under her leadership, the center has become a national model for public-health-focused alternatives that connect thousands of individuals to community supports and treatment.
Laura brings more than two decades of leadership experience across treatment, justice, education, public housing, and government systems. She has held executive roles in re-entry, community engagement, and organizational development, served as adjunct faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a founding member of the Austin/Travis County Re-Entry Roundtable. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MS in Social Work and is a Licensed Master Social Worker with an Advanced Practice designation.
Chief Executive Officer
Tuerk House
Member, National Sobering Collaborative Board of Directors
Bernard Gyebi-Foster is trained as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LPC). He completed his undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. He continued his education at Liberty University to complete his graduate degree in Professional Counseling, and recently earned an MBA in Leadership from Regent University.
In 2011, Mr. Gyebi-Foster became the clinical director of Tuerk House. In November of 2016, he became the interim executive director, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the agency. In March of 2017, he became the permanent executive director of Tuerk House.
When he is not immersed in finding ways to combat the debilitating disease of addiction, he serves as the pastor of Impact for Christ Community Church, a neighborhood church he founded in Edmondson Village in 2016. He is married to Juliet Gyebi-Foster, MD, an anesthesiologist-trained pain physician. Together, the couple has three beautiful children.
Associate Professor
School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
Immediate Past President and Co-Founder, National Sobering Collaborative Board of Directors
A registered nurse by trade, Dr. Shannon Smith-Bernardin PhD, RN, CNL is a nurse consultant, researcher, educator, and health care practitioner. She has worked in homeless health care since 2006, with expertise in community-based sobering care for acute alcohol and drug intoxication, alcohol harm reduction including managed alcohol programs, medical respite/recuperative care, and street nursing teams for persons who are unsheltered. Shannon’s primary focus is on the utilization of sobering centers in lieu of the emergency department and jail for adults intoxicated in public. Building from her clinical, research, and administrative nursing experience, Dr. Smith-Bernardin’s work currently encompasses three roles emphasizing health services research, program development, and policy efforts. First, she is assistant professor at UCSF School of Nursing specializing in alcohol use disorders, sobering center utilization, and homeless-related research. She is funded through a five-year NIAAA grant investigating emergency medical and sobering care collaborations in the care of acute alcohol intoxication. Second, Shannon is co-founder and the first board president of the National Sobering Collaborative, a 501(c)3 nonprofit aimed at identifying and developing best practices, standards, and education towards the use of sobering centers for the care of individuals with harmful substance use. Lastly, she consults in the development of related programs for communities throughout the United States and internationally.
Dr. Smith-Bernardin holds a doctorate from University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing, a Master’s from Western University of Health Sciences, and a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.