Our Staff
and Board
Seed, inc was founded in 2017, to address the lack of resources in Wisconsin with those struggling with gambling addiction and mental health issues associated. Seed is driven to discover the root of gambling addiction, while providing a foundation on which to grow – for those struggling with behavioral addictions and mental health issues – through integrative and traditional recovery therapies.
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We accept most commercial insurances, including Medicaid and Medicare.
Help us continue to bring quality behavioral addiction recovery services to the Fox Valley.
Brett Devine
Executive Director
Married to his wife Sara, and with their son Tucker (a Boston Terrier), Brett has lived in the Fox Valley area for over 16 years. Brett has an extensive background in the food and beverage industry, in every position from dishwasher to upper management. The last 7 years have been spent operating his own catering and personal chef business.
Along the way Brett developed an addiction to gambling which has brought him to this day. Having recently completed a SAC program offered through the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brett currently holds a SAC-IT (substance abuse counselor- in training) certificate and will be starting his intern hours to become an Addiction Counselor for Seed. Brett has completed training to become an Internationally Certified Gambling Counselor, just needing to finish his hours with supervision for this as well.
Seed was founded by Sara and Brett because they found a lack of resources in the Fox Cities for those suffering with gambling and other behavioral / process addictions.
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“Returning to school to become an
Addictions Counselor is the easiest
decision I have ever made.”
Sara Devine, MT-BC, LCSW, ICGC-II
Therapist
Sara has 20 years of experience working with individuals and groups combining her passions of music and psychotherapy together in her approach to optimize potential and promote healing for the whole person. Sara is a Board-Certified Music Therapist, Neurologic Music Therapy-Member, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and International Certified Gambling Counselor - II. She is also in her final year of training to become a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery, working specifically with the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. Sara utilizes an eclectic approach to treatment, focusing on person first and the specific needs that each individual has. Different styles of therapy that Sara utilizes are trauma-informed, holistic, skills-based and evidence based. Sara loves being able to combine both music therapy with psychotherapy and has had the opportunity to work with all ages and a wide variety of populations including: addictions, mental health diagnoses including but not exclusive to: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, traumatic brain injuries, physical disabilities, autism spectrum, medical diagnoses including cancer, cardiac and physical rehabilitation, cognitive disabilities, and dementia/Alzheimer’s disease.
“I have a passion for finding resources
and assisting the addict and their families navigate the world of addiction recovery. Learning through experience
has provided insight for me that I love
passing along to others.”
Greg Devine
Board President
Greg Devine is the Chairman of SRHO, The National Association. Greg has served in this capacity since the formation of the association in 2017. SRHO serves as a national forum for SRHO members and their affiliated hospitals and health systems to exchange information and address their unique challenges. Greg previously served as the President and CEO of AboutHealth. AboutHealth is a statewide healthcare organization that includes six of Wisconsin’s top performing healthcare systems. About Health members provide coverage to about 90% of the state via 48 hospitals and more than 8,000 providers. Under Greg’s leadership, AboutHealth is a leader in community health and delivering differentiated value for customers through clinical integration. AboutHealth also helps reduce personal and community cost of healthcare, creates relationships with patients, payers, employers and communities, and achieves results managing – inside and outside the exam room. Prior to leading AboutHealth, Greg served as the Executive Vice President of Business Development at ThedaCare, a large integrated health system in northeast Wisconsin, for more than twenty years. Greg led efforts in many important strategic and clinical efforts for ThedaCare. These programs included a joint venture ACO with another integrated healthcare organization, the negotiated sale of a provider owned managed care organization (HMO) to a large national managed care company, a joint venture children’s hospital within a hospital, a new cancer center, and the recruitment of a replacement medical oncology group. He has been involved in the development and management of managed care organizations and collaborative models of healthcare delivery for more than 25 years in Wisconsin.
Lindsey Dix
Board Secretary
By day, Lindsey is an experienced HR/Recruiting professional, helping organizations across Northeast Wisconsin with their HR needs. Outside of that time, Lindsey enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants in the area, live music, and spending time with her family and friends. She has been married for 10 years to her wonderful husband Tom, and together they have a very vivacious, energetic son named Cooper, who keeps them both on their toes. Lindsey is not only passionate about helping people, but animals as well. Having a longtime love for all animals, she is very involved in volunteering for area rescues/shelters, and animal welfare of all different kinds.
William (Bill) Bickel
Board Treasurer
Bill is an experienced Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual who focuses on financial security with a relationship based practice for families and individuals in the Appleton area. Bill is married to Julie and has a daughter who is passionate about music and a son who can rarely be seen without a baseball and a bat in his hand. When he is not in the office he enjoys baseball games with his family and is a serious fan of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Bill and his family also have two dogs who enjoy sleeping, barking and eating treats.
Bill attended Concordia University Wisconsin and obtained a Bachelor's Degree in ministry in 2001. After eight years in church work and working with families and individuals in crisis, Bill made a career change to working with people on the financial end of their life and assisting people at all stages of a financial picture. Bill has a desire to help people become their best self in all aspects of life and to consistently be focused on goals that drive people to be who they want to be rather than who they may be today.
David Ebben, M.D
Board Member
Married to my wife, Lynn, with 3 grown children and 3 young grandchildren. Other than leaving the area for education and early years of my professional life have resided in the Fox Valley. Professionally was involved in the practice of Family Medicine for 35 years (with 10 years as a staff physician on an inpatient addiction rehabilitation unit) before retiring in 2015. I enjoy a number of recreational pursuits including: water skiing, biking, hiking, hunting and fishing. I completed my undergraduate and Medical school training at University of Wisconsin and Family Medicine residency in Iowa. The first 10 years of my career were spent in Fond du Lac before moving to the valley in 1992. There I was originally a member of Family Doctors and later worked for Thedacare before returning to private practice with Primary Care Associates of Appleton.
I have held a number of leadership positions including: President of the FDL County Medical Society, chairman of the department of Family Medicine at St. Agnes Hospital, served on the board of directors for Appleton Medical Center Foundation, was physician leader for my practice site when employed by Thedacare and was the original president of Primary Care Associates. I also currently sit on the Board of Appeals for the Town of Buchanan.
Gerald Andersen
Board Member
Jerry Andersen currently is a Federal Bank Examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. He has held the position for 33 years. He started his career in the Tulsa, Oklahoma field office in 1987 and transferred to the Appleton, Wisconsin field office in 1996. He is a 1986 graduate of Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois with a degree in Accounting. He is married to Pam and has 4 adult daughters. In his spare time he enjoys golf, yard work, and watching the Brewers/Packers/Badgers.