A Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Corporation
Preserving the Message is a grassroots endeavor which began in 2017, disbanded, and then restarted in 2021. As it is not attached to any service entity, 7th Tradition funds are not available to pay for the costs associated with purchasing equipment required to digitize documents, reformat audio recordings, reimburse those of us who incur travel expenses in the course of gathering history, performing interviews, and giving presentations, and build & maintain the website.
We agreed to undergo the process of turning the Preserving the Message Committee into a not for profit so we could be eligible to apply for grants and accept donations to cover our operating costs.
All Board members and Committee members are NA members serving Preserving the Message in voluntary capacities only.
dev.preservingthemessage.org is a resource for anyone who wants:
- information on the history of Narcotics Anonymous.
- To learn archival skills and techniques.
- A repository for Zonal, Regional, Metro, Area, group, and member archives.
- To collaborate on NA history research projects.
We do this by providing:
- Access to a curated, searchable library of documents, images, and media files that are open to the public.
- Resources to educate, guide, and promote preservation of NA history.
- Opportunities for collaboration.
The Board of Directors
Chris Budnick
Chairperson – President
Chris Budnick has worked in the addiction recovery field since 1993. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, and Certified Clinical Supervisor. Chris has worked for the nonprofit Healing Transitions since 2000 and has been an adjunct instructor in the School of Social Work at North Carolina State University since 2002.
Some of Chris’ most rewarding work has been research, publication, and presentation of the history of mutual aid recovery fellowships for persons with drug addiction in collaboration with Mr. William White and Mr. Boyd Pickard.
Ed Watts
Treasurer
Business Background:
Ed started his career at Goldman Sachs & Company in 1968 in their margin department. He continued to work at Goldman Sachs & Co for the next 33 years. He retired in 2001 having obtained the position of Managing Director and Chief of Staff within the Operations Division. During his time at Goldman Sachs & Co. he also held a number of industry positions including Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Government Securities Clearing Corp and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mortgage Backed Securities Clearing Corp. In addition he served on the Boards of Depository Trust Clearing Corp (DTCC) and National Securities Clearing Corp (NSCC). As an active member of the Bond Market Association he chaired the Government Operations Committee as well as the Mortgage Backed Securities Operations Committee. In 1994 he was awarded the PSA’s Chairman’s award as the individual from this organization who made the greatest contribution to the financial industry that year.
Upon retiring from Goldman Sachs & Company Ed formed W-LEFT Financial Consultants. This firm was formed to make consulting services available in the operational and clearing areas of the financial world. From 2002 through 2007 he consulted for various financial firms and individual investors including DTCC, MBSCC, Omgeo, London Clearing House/CleatNet.
After a short stint at retirement he was approached in 2008 by the LCH.ClearNet Group, the largest clearing corporation in Europe, based in London and Paris, and was asked to open and head their first office in the United States as their Senior Country Advisor. Over he next two and a half years he organized and built the office increasing staff from two people (2) to over thirty (30). During his tenure in this position he established employee polices with regard to vacation, sick days, profit shearing, compensation, etc. to meet standards acceptable in the United States. He returned to retirement in 2011.
Experience on Non-Profit Boards:
During the period of 2009 to 2012 he served on the Board of Directors of both the New York State Coalition of LMSW’s, Inc. (a 501c-3 Corp.) and the New York State Coalition of Social Workers, Inc. (a 501c-3 corp.) as treasurer of these non-profit organizations. He is currently on the Board of Directors (Secy) of the Friends of the Market Street Mission, Inc. (a 501c-3 Corp.) This group raises funds to help support the programs of the Market Street Mission in Morristown, NJ. The mission provides housing, training and support for homeless men who are addicted to substances. They have been in existence for 126 years.
Ed resided in Brooklyn Heights, NY until 2003 when he and his wife Linda moved to West Caldwell New Jersey to be closer to their daughter (Brooke) and her family. Here they enjoy the company of not only their daughter and her husband (Jeff) but also their three grandchildren – Anthony, Benjamin and Christopher (the ABC Boys).
Ed is an avid golfer, chess player, and reader. He carries memberships with him and is a frequent visitor to both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. In addition, he subscribes to a series of concerts at the New York Philharmonic annually.
Lynne Vittorio
Secretary
Lynne received her History and Secondary Ed Degrees from CUNY-Hunter, and was licensed as a Social Studies Instructor by NYS and the NYC Board of Education. She taught Social Studies courses in the NYC Public School system before moving on to educational software testing and development for an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials.
Lynne is a co-founding member of Preserving the Message who has assisted volunteer entities around the world learn how to collect and preserve their archival materials and utilize those archives to write their own history books, booklets, or create other means of displaying their entities’ history.
She currently contributes to Preserving the Message by facilitating a series of group interviews documenting the contributions and memories of 12-Step fellowship members which can be accessed on the Preserving the Message website.
Lynne was also a member of an ad hoc history committee which wrote a book about the history of Narcotics Anonymous in New York.
Mark Burdett
Director at Large
Mark Burdett has been a business owner in the Metro Atlanta area for over three decades. He has also been an active volunteer and archivist, serving Southwest Christian Hospice since 1986 and curating a collection of Narcotics Anonymous history since 1996.
Mark’s passion for history and preservation inspired him to start a history archive for Narcotics Anonymous, which led to the acquisition of Greg P’s private collection in 1999. Mark spent four years carefully logging and organizing materials and creating displays so this collection could be shared with others. The first time the archive was displayed was In 2000 at a MACNA convention, followed by a display of the Georgia Region’s history at the World Convention of NA in Atlanta in 2002. Since then, it has been shared at numerous GRCNA conventions as well as the Tennessee and Florida conventions. In the following decades Mark continued to curate the archive and display it at conventions around the southeast.
In 2018 Mark became involved in the Georgia Region’s NA History Book project, dedicating his resources to the important cause of archiving and sharing this history. His ongoing commitment to this project and to the cause of addiction recovery has been a source of inspiration to many.
Mark remains dedicated to the cause of preserving and sharing this important history, completing the NA History Book, and serving his community.