Brian Gross - Bio
Brian Gross is a non-profit manager and board consultant, as well as an instructor and curriculum developer who specializes in building bridges between government, social services, healthcare, education and the arts – managing growth, change, public relations, community capacity building, funding, and program development and evaluation.
He has directed, coordinated and consulted for social service and arts non-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada for the last 15 years, as well as concurrently serving as an adjunct professor, workshop leader, presenter and instructor at universities, alternative secondary schools, alcohol and drug recovery/harm reduction programs, homeless drop-in centres, vocational colleges and professional conferences. He has co-authored three textbooks covering the topics of ethics, management, and multimedia production, has been recipient of various corporate and government grants and residencies, and has been the critically-acclaimed writer, composer and performer of 
musical plays, a signed band, music for numerous dance companies, and anthologized poetry. Additionally, he has been featured artist in several gallery exhibitions, and appears frequently on radio programs discussing everything from metaphysics to stages of substance use (from beneficial to problematic), music composition and poetry.
His youth was marked by meteoric rises and falls – personal experiences which have, along with a stro
ng research ethic in evidence-based practice, informed all aspects of his work, especially with marginalized and minority youth, and adults coping with the effects and after-effects of protracted substance use.
By the time he reached his early 20s, not only had Brian served as Assistant to the California Campaign Manager of Rev. Jesse Jackson's U.S. Presidential bid, as Youth and College Coordinator against a California "AIDS Quarantine" state-wide ballot initiative (which was 
defeated), become a youth facilitator for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Centre, had a radio play he wrote broadcast across the U.S. on National Public Radio, been elected the Freshman Representative to the Democratic Club at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and received a special commendation from the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles – but he had been expelled from the high school of which he was President, dropped out of 4 universities across the U.S. and Europe, and become a strung out, homeless youth, estranged from friends and family, living in a car (with a roommate) on the streets of Hollywood.
His life turned around when he learned to focus not on what he accomplished, but on how he went about it - and when he began to approach life with one imperative: to acknowledge and explore his curiosity, in whatever form it may manifest.
Brian is currently acting executive director of a youth substance use services program funded by the Fraser Health Authority. He is also Treasurer/Secretary of the Abbotsford Mental Health and Substance Use Advisory Committee, Development Consultant of the Abbotsford Youth Health Centre, and sits on Fraser East regional suicide prevention and integrated care team committees. As a volunteer, he is a facilitator for SMART Recovery and serves as the Community Liaison for the BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors, Abbotsford Chapter.
In the arts, Brian continues to create and perform new music and poetry, including releasing the 16-song album, "Biopsy" in 2010. The double-CD album, "Misguided Home" is set for release in 2011. His book of poetry, "Death by Beak" should be available as an e-book in 2012. His involvement with dance, which has included over a decade as music composer for dance companies, and serving as executive director of the Vancouver Goh Ballet Acedemy and Society, continues with his involvement as a consultant for the Vancouver Junior Professional Division classical ballet school in West Vancouver.
Brian has lived in Europe, Asia and across North America. He speaks English, Spanish, French and Indonesian. He has a bachelor degree in art/design, a master degree in creative and critical writing, and holds certificates in addictions, facilitation, instruction, and various office and multimedia software titles. He is currently pursuing a second master degree in counselling psychology at City University of Seattle's Vancouver campus.