Creative Alliance has special expertise in drug policy, program design and evaluation, strategic planning, and professional development.  Drawing on their experience and professional networks, the dynamic staff of Creative Alliance will provide you with innovative, real-world solutions.

The leadership of Creative Alliance, LLC includes Ms. Sarah Potter, President, and Mr. Steven Mange, Vice-President.

The professional staff of Creative Alliance, LLC includes:

Ms. Potter’s professional career reflects an ongoing commitment to the human services field. She has an acute understanding of a multitude of societal problems, and takes pride in her ability to logically plan programmatic and policy solutions that address those problems.

She served Prevention First (a center committed to building and supporting healthy, drug-free communities through public education, professional training and effective tools for those working to prevent drug use and related issues) by providing training and technical assistance to state-funded prevention agencies. She specialized in drug and alcohol prevention programs and strategies, community coalitions, and professional collaboratives between prevention and education. Her territory included agencies and communities in downstate Illinois, allowing her to apply her skills to the unique needs of rural areas.

Ms. Potter worked for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, providing technical assistance to communities in truancy and delinquency prevention, court diversion programs, balanced and restorative justice, and rural methamphetamine responses.

As Program Analyst to a Workforce Investment Board in California, Ms. Potter coordinated partnerships between the public and private sector to promote job opportunities, developed plans to address workforce development needs, crafted requests for proposals, and provided program oversight to federally-funded programs.

Ms. Potter also worked in violence prevention for five years. During this time she authored a successful batterer intervention program and subsequently performed as a lead trainer for the program.

Ms. Potter holds Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Public Administration degrees from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Mr. Mange offers a broad range of policy, advocacy, legislative, media, and management expertise.  He is currently working with the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws (NAMSDL), developing innovative and effective responses to prescription drug abuse.  Mr. Mange also serves on the National Methamphetamine Precursor Advisory Committee established by NAMSDL and the United States Justice Department.

Mr. Mange recently served as Executive Director of the Illinois Meth Project, a large-scale methamphetamine prevention campaign.  In this role he negotiated favorable arrangements with paid media partners, generated extensive earned media coverage of the campaign, worked with GfK Roper Media and Public Affairs to demonstrate impact, and co-authored an article in the Stanford Law and Policy Review.

As Senior Policy Advisor to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, he developed effective statewide strategies to reduce the widespread impact of drug use. This was done in collaboration with key stakeholders in law enforcement, prevention, treatment, child protection, public health, and other fields.  He was the leading architect of a pseudoephedrine control strategy that has reduced the number of reported methamphetamine labs in Illinois by more than half.  He drafted, worked to pass, and helped implement both the Meth Control and Community Protection Act and the Meth Precursor Control Act.  He also conducted training on meth issues and helped design, draft, and launch an innovative meth prevention curriculum for high school students.

Mr. Mange previously served as Assistant Campaign Manager to Lisa Madigan when she ran for Attorney General in 2001 and 2002.  In this role he developed positions on key issues; participated in the development and implementation of media strategy, supervised student interns, and managed the campaign office.

Mr. Mange served as an Associate at the Chicago civil rights law firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland, and as a law clerk to United States District Judge Ann Claire Williams (now on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals).  Before he became a lawyer, he served as Administrator of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Chicago, and is fluent in Spanish.

Mr. Mange has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.