As incoming Executive Director, Dr. Tate is expected to strengthen InnerChange with her extensive skills and experience managing innovation in addressing substance use challenges for people of all ages. Laura said: “I am excited about this opportunity to follow through with the remarkable work that InnerChange has done over the years. They have brought about positive and pragmatic fresh thinking that are leading to addiction and related mental health service improvements to British Columbia. The innovative addiction programs which InnerChange has helped to promote and fund are becoming part of the fabric of BC’s clinical and social services.” Besides managing an ongoing consulting practice, Laura was the prior Provincial Director of an agency which channeled Ministry of Health funds into community-based mental wellness innovations. After years working in the trenches, on the front lines of addiction and mental health service policy, she has come to believe passionately in the need for integrated service delivery to effectively address individual and community substance use challenges. In addition, she spent many years in direct public service, holding positions at the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, and at various Metro Vancouver area municipalities. Laura holds a doctorate in community planning and development, and recently co-edited a book on the role of networks in fostering social change.