Meet Mike
Mike Sciandra is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling in Lincoln, Nebraska. After spending much of his career in sales, management, and entrepreneurship, he chose a new direction following his own recovery from problem gambling. Today, he dedicates his work to education, prevention, advocacy, and peer support, helping individuals and families find hope while reducing the stigma surrounding gambling related harm.
When a New Beginning Changes Everything
Some professional journeys are carefully planned. Others emerge from moments that completely reshape the way a person sees life. For Mike Sciandra, the most meaningful chapter of his career did not begin with a promotion or a business opportunity. It began with a deeply personal decision to embrace recovery.
That choice transformed far more than his profession. It changed how he measured success, how he served others, and how he understood his own purpose. Instead of viewing his past as something to hide, he chose to use it as a bridge toward helping people facing similar struggles.
His story is not one about leaving one career behind for another. It is about discovering that personal healing can become the strongest foundation for meaningful leadership. Every role he has accepted since entering recovery reflects a simple belief that people deserve understanding, hope, and access to support without shame.
Building a Career Before Discovering a Calling
Before entering the world of addiction recovery, Mike spent years developing skills in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, and leadership. His work required him to build relationships, understand people, and communicate with honesty and confidence. Those experiences taught him how to connect with others and how trust is earned through consistency rather than promises.
At the time, he could not have predicted that these same skills would one day become valuable in an entirely different environment. The ability to listen carefully, build partnerships, and communicate difficult subjects with empathy would later become essential to his work in public education and advocacy.
Everything changed in 2021 when he entered recovery from problem gambling. Rather than seeing recovery as the end of one chapter, he viewed it as the beginning of another. He knew that if his own experience could help even one person avoid isolation or find support, then his past could become something meaningful.
Reflecting on that turning point, he says,
“My problem gambling recovery is the impetus for my personal and professional mission to help others reduce gambling related harm.”
Those words continue to guide every decision he makes today.
Choosing Service Instead of Comfort
Following his recovery, Mike intentionally stepped into a field where personal experience could become a source of encouragement for others. In November 2021, he joined Choices Treatment Center as an Education and Outreach Coordinator. Rather than pursuing a traditional clinical career, he found himself drawn toward prevention, education, and peer support.
It was work that demanded compassion as much as knowledge.
He completed certifications as a Disordered Gambling Counselor, Peer Support Specialist, and International Gambling Recovery Specialist. Each represented more than professional development. They reflected his commitment to understanding recovery from multiple perspectives while providing practical guidance to people searching for help.
The work also reinforced an important lesson. Recovery is not simply about overcoming a challenge. It is about remaining present for others while continuing to care for oneself.
That balance has never been easy.
Supporting individuals through addiction often means hearing painful stories that echo one’s own experiences. Mike openly acknowledges that protecting his own recovery and mental well being remains an ongoing responsibility. Self care is not separate from his mission. It allows him to continue serving others with honesty and compassion.
Instead of allowing difficult moments to discourage him, he returns to the purpose that first inspired this career. That sense of mission continues to provide stability even during emotionally demanding days.
Leadership Rooted in Lived Experience
In March 2025, Mike became Executive Director of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling, marking another important milestone in his journey. The appointment represented years of personal growth, professional learning, and unwavering commitment to helping others.
His responsibilities now extend beyond education alone. He helps guide an organization dedicated to expanding awareness, strengthening prevention efforts, advocating for improved treatment resources, and connecting Nebraskans with recovery services.
The work requires leadership, strategic planning, relationship building, fundraising, and organizational management. Although these responsibilities differ from his previous positions, they continue to rely on the same qualities that have shaped his career from the beginning.
Integrity remains central to every decision he makes.
Transparency creates trust with communities and partners.
Service continues to define success.
Rather than measuring achievement through titles or recognition, Mike believes success is reflected in the lives touched through education and support. If someone learns to recognize the warning signs of problem gambling, if a family discovers available resources, or if an individual feels less alone because stigma has been reduced, then meaningful progress has been made.
This perspective gives his leadership a quiet authenticity. It is not driven by personal recognition but by lasting community impact.
Creating Hope Through Education and Advocacy
The Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling serves communities across a geographically large and diverse state. Mike understands that every community has different needs, yet every individual deserves access to reliable information and compassionate support.
Under his leadership, the organization focuses on four interconnected priorities. Education helps people understand the consequences of problem gambling. Prevention encourages healthier decisions before gambling becomes harmful. Advocacy works to strengthen treatment resources while supporting policies that protect Nebraska communities. Recovery services connect individuals and families with professional help when they need it most.
These efforts share a common purpose. They remind people that gambling addiction is not a moral failing. It is a condition that deserves understanding, treatment, and hope.
Mike also recognizes that lasting change depends on conversations happening long before someone reaches a crisis. By speaking publicly, building partnerships, and encouraging open dialogue, he hopes more people will seek help earlier and without fear of judgment.
His background in relationship building continues to strengthen this mission. Meaningful change often begins with genuine human connection, and that remains one of his greatest strengths.
Looking Beyond Today
Although becoming Executive Director marked an important achievement, Mike views it as another beginning rather than a final destination. His vision extends beyond organizational growth. He hopes to build programs that reach every corner of Nebraska while ensuring that people from every community can access education, support, and recovery resources.
He also wants future generations to grow up with a clearer understanding of gambling related harm and to know that asking for help should never carry shame.
When discussing his approach to both life and leadership, he offers simple advice that reflects the values shaping his own journey:
“Find and follow your greatest passion, develop both personal and professional mission, and make yourself available to serve those missions.”
It is guidance rooted not in theory but in lived experience.
A Life That Gives Back
Mike Sciandra’s story demonstrates that meaningful leadership often grows from life’s most difficult moments. His professional accomplishments are significant, but they are inseparable from the personal transformation that made them possible.
Today, he leads with empathy because he understands struggle firsthand. He advocates because he knows the value of being heard. Most importantly, he continues to remind others that recovery is not simply about leaving the past behind. It is about creating a future where hope becomes possible for someone else.
In choosing service over comfort and purpose over regret, Mike has built a career that reflects the very message he hopes others will believe: every new beginning has the power to change not only one life, but many.
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