Meet The Right Step Staff

George Joseph
Chief Executive Officer

George Joseph took over the reigns of The Right Step in 1994, when the company had one location- a residential treatment program in Houston. His vision and passion is evidenced by the fact that The Right Step is now the largest provider of drug and alcohol treatment services in the Southwest, serving over 3500 individuals last year. He remains successful in his mission of maintaining high quality and affordable services for adolescents, adults, and their families seeking a life without the devastation of active addiction. With 25 years of experience in the field of recovery and treatment, George's insight, knowledge, and leadership is well regarded within the field as well as among The Right Step organization.

Using his own struggles in his youth as a springboard to help others, George began his career in the chemical dependency field in 1983. He worked at Parkside Lodge for 5 years prior to The Right Step. In addition to his unwavering commitment to clients and creating a caring organization, the years of hard work were recognized during 1999 and 2000 when George won the triple crown of counseling. In 1999, he captured honors as the Houston and State of Texas Counselor of the Year presented by the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals. In 2000, he won the highest honor given to a counselor in our nation, the 2000 Lora Roe Memorial Counselor of the Year, awarded by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC).

George does not limit his outreach just to The Right Step, but is involved on both the local and state levels of counseling professional organizations, serves on school boards, is appointed on advisory councils for spiritually based organizations, and sponsors various sober recreation groups.

He is married with two children, and despite being over 40, maintains a respectable golf handicap and bragging rights in his basketball league.

Joellyn Champagne, J.D., LL.M.
President

Joining the Right Step in March 2009, Joellyn serves as President and General Counsel. Prior to being named President of TRS, Joellyn served as the company's Chief Human Resources Officer. Joellyn is a seasoned executive with an extensive 20-year background in healthcare operations, compliance, and human resources. Joellyn has a proven track record as an internal HR leader, external HR consultant, and legal counsel as well as holding senior operational leadership positions in the healthcare industry. A strong internal change agent, Joellyn holds expertise in assessment of organizational team and individual performance issues to develop process improvements and actionable plans that achieve corporate objectives.

Joellyn's experience at the executive management level includes her position as Human Resources Leader for General Electric where she led the HR operations for North America Oil and Gas. Prior to this, she served as GE Senior Vice President of Human Resources and General Counsel for Belmont Senior Living, a developer and operator of senior living facilities throughout the United States. Joellyn brings deep experience in healthcare operations management as well having held facility and regional leadership positions in the long term care industry.

Joellyn has held public service roles including Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston, America's fourth largest city. Having earned a bachelor's degree in health education from Nicholls State University, Joellyn went on to earn a law degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She also holds a Master of Laws degree in Health Law from the University of Houston Health Law and Policy Institute.

Jason Powers, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer

Prior to joining The Right Step in 2006, Dr. Powers served as an attending physician at Memorial Hermann Prevention and Recovery Center and as an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. 

Previously, he operated an outpatient primary care and addiction & recovery medical practice and a private medical practice in Houston. He also worked as an associate physician, specializing in addiction & recovery and family medicine for the Contemporary Medicine Associates in Houston, Texas. 

Dr. Powers received his medical degree from Texas Tech University Health Science Center. While in school, he was the recipient of several academic scholarships including the Kellogg Foundation Academics Scholarship and the Student Senate Endowed Academic Scholarship. Dr. Jason Powers is an Addictionologist (M.D.) and voted as one of Houston's "Top 50 Doctors" for two years running. Dr. Powers serves as the local expert and as a steering committee member for the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

In addition to his engaging personality , he actually takes time to understand his patients and work with the families. Dr. Powers is married to a beautiful wife and has two loving kids who he enjoys spending time with. He also enjoys yoga and camping.

Donna Charleson
Chief Financial Officer

Donna joined The Right Step in October 2006, bringing almost 20 years of professional experience to her role as Chief Financial Officer. Upon graduating from the University of Houston with a Bachelor's of Business Administration (with a concentration in accounting), she started her career with the Houston office of Arthur Andersen & Co., advancing to audit manager. Her clients consisted of both public and private companies concentrated in the construction & engineering, non-profit and retail industries. She later joined a local CPA firm as audit principal, working with clients in the savings and loan industry.

In 1989, Donna entered the health care field as CFO for a local Houston clinical reference laboratory associated with the Memorial Hospital System. Later experiences included stints at a Houston multi-specialty, physician-owned clinic, a large behavioral health managed care company, and two publicly-owned, national clinical reference laboratories. Her most recent experience prior to The Right Step was as CFO for a Houston-based developer of ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient cardiac labs, and small rural hospitals.

Donna's varied experience includes initial public offerings (IPO's), loan agreements and restructurings, and operational and financial audits.

Throughout her career, Donna has championed not only financial discipline and rigor for her organizations, but also a primary focus on superior client and patient service. She believes that the two missions are intertwined; an organization must be both financially healthy and dedicated to superior customer service.

Donna is a member of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Health Care Financial Management Association, the AICPA and the Texas Society of CPA's.