Dr. Stephanie Hutter-Thomas is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Maverick Minds LLC, a consulting firm built on a simple belief: lived experience belongs at the leadership table. She also serves as Director of Operations for the ARCHway Institute, where she helps guide the organization's work supporting individuals and families affected by substance use and mental health challenges. With a career spanning behavioral health research, workforce development, and peer support advocacy, Dr. Steph connects community-rooted practice with evidence-based strategy to move systems toward meaningful, lasting change.

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As someone with her own lived experience, she is deeply committed to growing the peer workforce and strengthening the professional pathways available to Peer Recovery Specialists, Family Peer Support Specialists, and Community Health Workers. 

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Dr. Steph has led initiatives alongside institutions like Johns Hopkins University, West Virginia University, and the University of Maryland, with a focus on substance use, harm reduction, and public health equity. She previously served as Director of Peer & Organizational Development at the Maryland Coalition of Families and as Co-Investigator for the Mountain Maryland Forward recovery workforce initiative. Her leadership spans community-based research, strategic planning, program evaluation, training, and capacity building.

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She is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor, a Master Trainer for the Regrounding Our Response initiative (MD & WV), and a CCAR Recovery Coach Professional Facilitator (RCP-F). Dr. Steph also brings CliftonStrengths and PQi (Partnering Quotient Index) methodologies into her coaching and organizational consulting work, helping teams build authentic, strength-based cultures.

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Above all, Dr. Steph is driven by a belief in the people too often left out of the conversation. Whether she's coaching a team, leading a workshop, or testifying before policymakers, she brings honesty, practicality, and genuine warmth to the table. At her core, she believes peers are the future of human services, and she's here to help make sure they have the recognition, resources, and respect they deserve.