20 Stories of Impact

Sandy Kosik was Chief of Oakland County Health Division, Office of Substance Abuse Services before the Alliance even existed. She was also a long serving member of the Alliance Board once she retired from the County. 

One of her responsibilities at the County’s Office of Substance Abuse was supervising the distribution of County funding for substance misuse activity to organizations in Oakland County that provide substance misuse services. She worked closely with community coalitions in Oakland County prior to the establishment of the Alliance. 

Although there was a loose network of coalitions prior to 2003 that grew out of the “healthier communities” initiative, Sandy believed that it was important to strengthen those relationships through the establishment of an umbrella organization that could create efficiencies and coordinate services that was not operationally dependent upon the County.

Early in the coalition movement, Sandy obtained funding to provide two different weekend-long coalition planning retreats as well as a trip to a CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) Leadership Forum for all Oakland County coalition leaders. (CADCA is an international membership organization representing more than 5,000 community anti-drug coalitions in the United States and abroad). 

When Oakland County Substance Abuse Services decided to shift coalition oversight to an outside organization (which eventually became the Alliance), Sandy was instrumental in making it happen. As the Chief, Sandy worked with multiple coalition leaders and community stakeholders to encourage and ultimately financially support the framework that became the Alliance. Sandy remained committed to the Alliance's success, even after funding responsibility moved from the Health Department to Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN).

Julie Brenner, President and CEO of the Alliance remembers, “Sandy was an innovative leader who was very approachable and encouraging to coalition leaders. It was her vision that drove the beginnings of the Alliance. When I was invited by Marc Jeffries to join the Board of the Alliance in 2009, I was privileged to work alongside Sandy who, at that time, was the Board Treasurer. She always made time to talk and encourage me. She became a mentor for me. Her support was phenomenal and allowed me to grow in my role from Vice President of the Board to it’s now CEO.”

The Alliance is part of Sandy’s great legacy. Using her vision and passion to create a healthier Oakland County, and advanced leadership skills, she transformed how Oakland County delivers substance misuse services.