The first question Mike Sciandra encounters when he walks into a new city council chamber is almost always the same. Is he there to shut the casino down?
The answer is no. That answer, which he has stated plainly across multiple public settings, is the organization’s actual stance rather than a diplomatic softening. As Executive Director of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling, Sciandra describes NeCPG’s position this way: the work is about reducing harm from gambling, not challenging gambling’s existence in a community. That framing keeps him in rooms where a different posture would end the conversation before it began.
NeCPG is a Lincoln-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1992, originally as the Nebraska Council on Compulsive Gambling, and now the organization representing Nebraska within the National Council on Problem Gambling’s network of state affiliates. Its mission centers on four areas: education, prevention, advocacy, and helping people access recovery resources. Nebraskans seeking help can reach the organization through a helpline at 1-833-BET-OVER.
The neutral stance is not just a talking point. It shapes where Sciandra goes and who speaks to him when he gets there. His outreach includes soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and recovery centers, places where gambling harm tends to be present but gambling awareness work has historically been thin. It includes small-town council meetings in communities that had never heard a presentation on problem gambling before his arrival. Where legal casinos or sports betting are part of the local economy, showing up as a partner rather than an opponent makes the initial conversation possible at all. Operators, treatment professionals, peer support networks, and local officials all become potential collaborators rather than adversaries under this framing.
Sciandra took on the Executive Director role in early 2025. He came to behavioral health from a background in commercial roles, working in sales and marketing management before making a shift in 2021. That professional history gave him a particular kind of instinct for reading an audience and staying in a conversation long enough to build a case. He joined Choices Treatment Center as Education and Outreach Coordinator in November 2021. Per the organization, his credentials include a Master of Arts in Management from Doane University, a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from Bellevue University, and a Disordered Gambling Counselor Certificate also from Bellevue. He completed a Certified Peer Support Specialist Certificate from Southeast Community College and holds certifications as an International Gambling Recovery Specialist and Board Approved Recovery Advisor through the International Problem Gambling and Gaming Certification Organization.
The reason he pursued those credentials is also public. In interviews with Nebraska television stations and in materials published by the National Council on Problem Gambling, Sciandra has described his own gambling history: he began betting at nine years old, the behavior continued for roughly 25 years, he went bankrupt twice, and he lost a marriage. He attempted to quit on multiple occasions. He eventually received no-cost counseling through the Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program and has been bet free since December 14, 2020, a date he tracks precisely.
That history underpins a specific argument he makes in the communities he visits. He has said publicly that he grew up without knowing that treatment for gambling problems existed or was accessible near him. Getting that information to people earlier than he received it is, in his telling, what the job is.
In March 2026, the effort to extend that reach produced a concrete result. The National Council on Problem Gambling featured Sciandra’s work in a write-up on its website that month, describing how NeCPG secured 20 official proclamations recognizing Problem Gambling Awareness Month from the state of Nebraska and from cities across the state. The campaign required months of advance outreach and personal appearances at community meetings, including several where NeCPG was making its first introduction. By Sciandra’s description, the covered cities represented roughly half of Nebraska’s population outside Lincoln and Omaha.
More recently, NeCPG introduced a campaign called Education Has the Best Odds, aimed at schools for the 2026-27 academic year and directed at raising awareness among young people.
The organizational context continues to shift. Nebraska has expanded its legal gambling options considerably in recent years. KMTV reported in March 2026 that the state had seen a 30 percent rise in people seeking help for gambling-related concerns. A state budget proposal introduced in January 2026, LB-1072, would have eliminated the Nebraska Commission on Problem Gambling as a standalone body and transferred its Gamblers Assistance Program to the Department of Health and Human Services at reduced funding. Sciandra publicly opposed the proposal. The outcome of that legislative process reflects the broader policy environment in which NeCPG operates.
For Sciandra, the reach question does not become simpler. There are still communities in Nebraska that have not yet had the conversation. City council chambers where he has not shown up yet. School districts. Soup kitchens. Whether the community has a casino or not.
