Chair
Mark Anthony Raimondo brings a unique blend of professional expertise and personal commitment to his role as Chair of Life Beyond Addiction. A devoted family man, Mr. Raimondo has been married for fifteen years to his Love Oxana they are raising Preston their 8th-grade son.
Mr. Raimondo is a preeminent criminal defense lawyer in Bakersfield, CA, over the past twenty years. He leads a successful firm with three junior partners. Beyond his legal career, Mark & Oxana also own and operate a large Montessori school, serving 125 preschoolers in their community.
As someone in long-term recovery, Mark is passionate about holistic well-being. For the past three years, he has found a powerful synergy in R20 merging recovery and the principles of Kundalini Yoga, believing it to be the “missing link” to achieving harmony, peace, and serenity. Mark is also actively involved in the community serving as a Community Board Member at the Salvation Army, and a member of the Qualifications Committee for the Kern Bar Association. Mark and his entire family regularly utilize Recovery 2.0 and its teachings
Vice-Chair
Betsy Mack Nespeca is the CEO of Mack Industries, a fourth-generation concrete products and wastewater treatment company employing over 700 team members. With more than 25 years of leadership, Betsy has guided the company through significant growth, generational transitions, the Great Recession, and a global pandemic. Her expertise spans strategic planning, people development, process optimization, and resource management.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Betsy is a passionate advocate for wellness and recovery. With deep personal roots in a family affected by alcoholism, she is committed to breaking the cycle through healthy habits, mindful living, and community service. Her dedication to the Life Beyond Addiction Foundation is fueled by this mission—to support individuals on their path of recovery, discovery, and healing.
A devoted practitioner of Radiant Body Yoga, Betsy has spent the past four years deeply immersed in its teachings, including a transformative Recovery 2.0 retreat in India. “These ancient technologies work,” she says. “They help us thrive and level up. Some experiences cannot be explained—only shared.”
Betsy lives in Ohio with her husband, Chris Nespeca, where they raised their three sons. She finds joy in live music (especially Phish), gardening, preparing plant-based meals, and, of course, her daily yoga practice.
Treasurer
Sarah (Sallie) Krauss is a retired judge from New York City. She served in the judicial system in her Brooklyn community on various Courts, Civil, Criminal, Supreme and Family courts over 18 years. During her legal career there she has served as chair of various bar associations’ Lawyer Assistance Committees in the past 35 years. She has served as Chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and served as an advisory committee member to CoLAP. For many years she served as Chair, then co-chair of the CoLAP Judicial Assistance Initiative (JAI). During her tenure as chair of JAI, the ABA JAI produced a resource guide for judges entitled “Judges Helping Judges”, which is still available on the CoLAP website. This resource guide instructs the judicial community in the how and why of creating Judicial Assistance Programs.
She has served as chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Lawyer Assistance Committee for 4 years, chaired the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee for many years, as well as being appointed by the Chief Justice of the State of New York to the New York State’s Lawyers Assistance Trust
Judge Krauss has been a past member of teams sent by the ABA to evaluate several states’ bar association’s’ Lawyer Assistance Programs (LAP), i.e., South Dakota, Texas and New Jersey LAPs. In addition, she was a member of a team that evaluated the North Carolina Physicians’ Assistance Program.
While serving the legal community in these capacities, Judge Krauss provided education to the legal profession about the issues of lawyer and judge impairments in many states, including Arizona, Idaho, New York, New Jersey, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, Wash. DC and at a University in New Delhi, India. She has participated in numerous accredited legal education programs covering topics ranging from the signs and symptoms of impairments to suicide prevention, stress issues, malpractice prevention, discipline issues, non-confrontational communications, motivational interviewing, intervention training and techniques, and monitoring impaired attorneys.
In her personal life, she has been in recovery for 43 years, has attended many recovering seminars and retreats, mentored hundreds of individuals in those 43 years to assist them on the path of recovery. Judge Krauss is committed to the processes promoted by Recovery 2.0 which assists those in recovery from many different addictions and life challenges to find a healthy and holistic way of thriving on the path of abstinence and recovery.
She has continued to serve the recovering community as a volunteer over the past 43 years in many capacities, serving as treasurer to many organizations as well as serving as chair and representative to larger organizations in the recovering community. In addition to serving a Treasurer to the LBAF organization, she is currently also the treasurer of the non-profit Shea Tree Center-EIN84-4189291.
Vice-Treasurer
Hi there, my name is Narayani Swenning.
I’ve been living in sustained recovery from alcohol and Adderall since 2016. Sobriety has been the gateway to a lifelong journey of healing, self-discovery, and transformation. In addition to maintaining my recovery, I continue to navigate and work deeply with ongoing readjustments around food and relationships—areas that have required just as much compassion, presence, and daily commitment.
I am a mother, a loving partner, a dedicated sober coach, a long-time yoga teacher, a sponsor, and a certified Recovery 2.0 coach. I also hold sacred space for meetings and circles where healing conversations can unfold. My work is rooted in spiritual practice and lived experience, and I strive to meet each person with empathy, clarity, and non-judgment.
I live in beautiful Palm Springs, California, where I cherish quiet moments with my children and our dogs. You’ll often find me studying Sanskrit or tending to my garden—sometimes both at once, finding peace in the rhythm of the earth and the resonance of sacred sound.
Sadaram ~
Secretary
Luis Alvarez serves as a dedicated board member of the Life Beyond Addiction Foundation, bringing over 13 years of personal recovery experience. He has been an active founding member of the Recovery 2.0 Sangha community for nine years and has served as a Recovery 2.0 Coach for the past six. Luis deeply believes that recovery from addiction is not only possible—it is a profound gateway to healing, transformation, and the realization of one’s highest purpose.
He passionately advocates for the transformative power of Yoga, Meditation, Mantra, Sacred Sound, and Nutrition in overcoming both substance and process addictions. Through his unwavering commitment to service and community, Luis inspires others to embark on their own journeys of recovery, growth, and self-discovery.
Professionally, Luis is the co-founder of Avory & Co., a Miami-based asset management firm that invests in both public and private companies. He is a proud father of three children and is married to multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist Felicidad Aveleyra. Luis earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
In addition to his work and service, Luis is a devoted student and performer of Hindustani Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan, reflecting his deep commitment to sacred sound and spiritual practice.