Sarah Souder Johnson
co-founder and Board chair
Clinician at Sentier psychotherapy
Sarah is a mental health therapist and educator with a background in the arts as a performer, teacher and director. She believes people develop as a result of their genetics, environment, beliefs and lifestyle. She is particularly interested in how people with creative personalities learn, function in the world and approach change. She started Dissonance along with David Lewis to provide broader access to wellness resources and to challenge the notion that artists must struggle to be successful.
Jeremiah gardner
board mEmber
Principal, Gardner Communications
Jeremiah is a writer, reporter, media and government relations professional, and recovery advocate with a background in journalism, business and music. For several years, he was director of communications and public affairs for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and served on the board of Faces & Voices of Recovery, a national advocacy group. He is devoted to educating others about recovery, confronting the stigma of substance use and mental health conditions, speaking into related professional and public policy issues, and bringing historical and cultural context as well as creativity to those public conversations.
Katy Vernon
board member
Singer-SongwriteR at Katy Vernon
Katy is a London-born singer-songwriter and ukulele player. A self-described "Singer of Sad Songs on a Happy Instrument," she likes to tackle tough subjects like grief, substance use and mental health but always with a view to connect, entertain and bring joy. Katy also has a successful ABBA cover band that makes both her and her audiences happy!
MANUEL GARCIA
board member
Treatment Services Director at American Indian Family Center
Manuel is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor who leads the treatment services at the American Indian Family Center in St. Paul. Originally from Mexico, he came to the United States to attend the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, where he earned a master’s degree. Prior to his current role, he worked for several years at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. He has also served on the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers’ DEI Advisory Committee. He plays guitar and used to be in a punk rock band!
MISCHA SUEMNIG
BOARD Member
Web Developer AND Software EngineeR
Mischa is lead web developer at Adverscale, an advertising and automation tech company, and a software engineering manager at Virtual GIS, which creates digital 3D models of underground pipes for civil engineers. He’s also a veteran songwriter and musician who executive-produced and conceptualized #MeTooMPLS—an album, movement and Minnesota women’s songwriting collective established to lift the voices of women/ femmes/trans/nonbinary folks, support sexual assault survivors, and raise funds for Planned Parenthood.
Scott Zosel
BOARD Member
Director of Marketing & Brand Development at Jackpine; Musician
Scott is a songwriter who has been making music in the Twin Cities since the 1980s while also day-lighting as a digital marketing strategist and brand management professional. In 2024, Scott curated a collection of songs he had written for family funerals, weddings, births, and other milestones, and recorded them with a talented band of friends in front of a sold-out audience at the Center for Performing Arts in Minneapolis. The result—2024’s Blood Will Tell— is a live, 10-song album therapeutically traversing the tender imperfection of family dynamics. In addition to his music and marketing, Scott is a founding board member of the Minneapolis Youth Baseball Association.
Jason Chaffee
BOARD Member
Principal DevOps EngineeR at Compeer Financial; Musician
Jason Chaffee is a composer, singer/songwriter, sound engineer, videographer, sailing enthusiast and IT professional. Also a recovery and mental health advocate, he conceived and leads production of the YouTube video series known as Dissonance Sessions and helped create/host Dissonance’s Ghost Notes block party. Jason writes, records and performs music ranging in style from Americana to his current obsession: ambient. Multi-skilled, versatile and endlessly curious, he is a highly sought-after collaborator in the Minnesota music community. When not creating art or working at his day job as a software developer, Jason likes to travel globally to catch concerts and sail various seas.
