Meet the People Doing the Work
National Harm Reduction Coalition is a nationwide team of passionate humans who share a vision for a world that is healing from harms caused by racialized drug policies.
We’re located from coast to coast and represent a full spectrum of lived and professional experience.
We are catalysts and storytellers, connectors and collaborators, teachers and disseminators of the collective wisdom of the harm reduction community.
Meet the people of National Harm Reduction Coalition who are fighting for the rights of people who use drugs to survive and thrive.
Our Leadership Team
Our Team On and Behind
the Scenes
Alixe Dittmore (she/her)
Training and Content Development Coordinator
Location: Hartford, CT
Email: dittmore@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Community caring for one another and cultivating joy in spite of systems trying to actively harm them.
What outrages you?
When people believe that denying their privileges absolves them and that so many social structures were created by people in power to uphold them.
Antonio Chavez (he/him)
DOPE Delivery Associate
Location: San Francisco, CA
Email: antoniochavez@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
I am inspired by kindness and caring, and people genuinely caring for one another.
What outrages you?
The indifference of political figures to our everyday struggle.
Brenda Cantero, MPH (she/ella)
DOPE Project Manager
Location: Oakland, CA
Email: cantero@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Radical love and compassion, justice, solidarity, chilaquiles.
What outrages you?
Racial inequity and oppression, structural violence, stigma, complacency.
Briana Robinson (she/her)
Human Resources and Operations Manager
Location: Charlotte, NC
Email: robinson@harmeduction.org
What inspires you?
I am inspired by God, my husband, family, random acts of kindness, watching the "underdog" succeed.
What outrages you?
Racial inequality
Brittany Ballantyne (she/her)
Communications Coordinator
Location: Connecticut
Email: balllantyne@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
The belief that we can build a world free from violence, fear, and harm - where everyone can thrive and be their full, authentic selves. Children. Hope as resistance. Humanity.
What outrages you?
Violence in all of its forms, racism, sexism, transphobia, xenophobia, classism, ableism, ageism, and all other interconnected oppressions. Poverty. Harmful stigmas and misconceptions. The abuse of power and control. The disregard of human rights.
Christine Cline-Leung (she/her)
Interim Director of Contracts and Grantmaking
Location: New York, NY
Email: clineleung@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Activists and social justice workers and movements addressing root causes of inequity
What outrages you?
Corporations and politicians that promote and fuel divisions and violence between groups
Dewayne Murrell (open pronouns)
State Policy Coordinator
Location: Memphis, TN
Email: murrell@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
I'm inspired by the movement work of liberation and justice for those who are less than fortunate to participate in the work. I am also inspired by the progress that movements locally and nationally have made to a more realized world of freedom and liberty for all.
What outrages you?
What outrages me is the trend in politics and governing that makes business kicking those less fortunate while they are already living disparities in this country.
Harmony Seaburg (she/her)
Program and Administrative Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Email: seaburg@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Community, compassion, vulnerability, hope for the future, youth stepping into their power.
What outrages you?
The prison industrial complex, laws that keep us from body autonomy, stigma, medical racism.
Hiawatha Collins (he/him)
Community and Capacity Building Manager
Location: New York, NY
Email: collins@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Living Life: Making a way for those who have yet to realize they have a Voice and they Matter. Standing Because it's the Right, Just thing to Do, even if alone.
What outrages you?
To be determined (lol)
Jessenia Garcia (ella/she/her)
Capacity Building and Community Mobilization Manager
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Email: garcia@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
The privilege of having someone trust me to share their story with me. Art, poetry, bread, chips, platanos and interacting with non-human beings.
What outrages you?
Blatant acts of violence whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual which leaves souls feeling hopeless and alone.
Jose Martinez (he/him)
Capacity Building and Hepatitis C Coordinator
Location: Bronx, NY
Email: martinez@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
My community
What outrages you?
Injustice
Keila Núñez (she/her)
Controller
Location: New York, NY
Email: nunez@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
People who live and breathe helping others, no matter the cause. It is why I've chosen to only work for organizations that provide social services and fight for social justice.
What outrages you?
Injustice, inequality, inhumane treatment of others
Lill Prosperino (they/them)
Harm Reduction Resource Coordinator
Location: West Virginia
Email: prosperino@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Communities coming together to take care of each other and keep each other safe! Mutual aid. When people take direct action! I feel inspired by knowing we really don't need this system and all the ways it holds us down, and I know we already have the tools to have something better.
What outrages you?
Policing, the racist war on drugs, the prevalence of fascism directed at PWUD (people who use drugs) and/or people who trade sex. Urban-centeredness and how it can leave rural and poor/working class folks behind.
Luka Bair (they/them)
Interim CHRI Data Manager
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Email: bair@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
The traditions of mutual aid and fugitive brilliance that are threaded - by drugs and drug users - through every aspect of harm reduction.
What outrages you?
There are stitches missing.
Mariah Francis (she/they)
Harm Reduction Resource Coordinator
Location: Washington, DC
Email: francis@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Black womxn. Collective story telling. Moments of unexpected kindness. Undiscovered places. My mama's garden magic. Harvest season. Fireflies.
What outrages you?
White cis-heteropatriarchy, performative allyship, respectability politics, when Chic-Fil-A gives me one lil bitty packet of sauce knowing that ain't gone do nothing.
Mary Sylla (she/her)
Director of Overdose Prevention Policy and Strategy
Location: Kentfield, CA
Email: sylla@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
People running syringe services programs on shoestring budgets and academics crunching numbers and publishing papers to prove that harm reduction works to save lives and money; and everyone in between working at the intersection of social justice and science -- public health.
What outrages you?
NIMBYs. The jail and prison system that ruins lives and communities.
Melissa Matheney (she/her)
Housing and Shelter Capacity Building Coordinator
Location: Oakland, CA
Email: matheney@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Love, compassion, and kindness! My community (both in the larger sense of the Bay Area, as well as my loved ones), the amazing folks I've worked with and alongside over the years, all the people that do lifesaving work across the U.S. and the world, especially in rural areas with limited resources.
What outrages you?
Racism, homophobia/transphobia, stigma, the prison industrial complex, the nonprofit industrial complex, and NIMBYS.
Mike Pomante (he/they)
Contracts and Grants Coordinator
Location: Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Email: pomante@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Kindness and compassion. People who use their powers for good. Sunsets and puppies. Second chances.
What outrages you?
Cruelty. Injustice. Bullying.
Mike Selick, MSW (he/him)
Associate Director of Capacity Building
Location: Burlington, VT
Email: selick@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
What outrages you?
The War on Drugs
Monica Lee Ridgeway (she/her)
Organizational Development and Capacity Building Manager
Location: Frankfort, KY
Email: Ridgeway@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
My Past and Doing something NEW inspires me. Even if, I don't like everything about my past I use it as a true blueprint, as a source of inspiration to continue to move forward. Doing Something NEW gives me the opportunity to discover more new things about myself, which often reveals that I can overcome laziness, fear, being stagnant and getting too comfortable.
What outrages you?
Systemic racism, microaggression in ALL settings, inequities in ALL settings, especially healthcare and in education, institutional privilege, discrimination, ableism, ageism, classism, heterosexism, sexism and any other "ism" that is used to keep people oppressed.
Pervaiz Fariduddin (he/him)
Staff Accountant
Location: Newington, CT
Email: fariduddin@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
I recently had a daughter and I never knew what I was inspired by until now. Being a father inspires me to work hard and stay focused on things that matter to me the most which is my family and my career.
What outrages you?
I am outraged by Racism and being Judged by the color of your skin, your religion, or your country of origin outrages me. I have been racially profiled just because of my country of origin so when I see any type of racism or discrimination I am outraged.
Porsha Dixson (she/her)
Data and Training Coordinator
Location: Oakland, CA
Email: dixson@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
God and my Boys
What outrages you?
Racial profiling
Raven Hoopes (they/them)
Capacity Building Manager (Northern California)
Location: Redding, CA
Email: hoopes@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Compassionate work with positive impact in the lives of those most affected by socioeconomic inequalities and inequities. The ocean and love.
What outrages you?
Stigma, injustice, and violence.
Shannon Curry-Izzo (she/her)
Training and Content Development Coordinator
Location: Buffalo, NY
Email: curryizzo@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
The Maya Angelou quote "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel". No matter what I do in life, I always come back to this as my guiding star.
What outrages you?
Hypocrisy, especially when coming from individuals that have been rewarded with power and influence. Claiming publicly to support while privately destroying is unconscionable.
Tanagra M. Melgarejo Pulido, MSW (ella/she)
Director of National Capacity Building
Location: Oakland, CA
Email: melgarejo@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
Love, justice, solidarity and mutual aid
What outrages you?
Injustice, stigma, structural violence, all the "isms"
Taylor Edelmann (he/him)
LGBTQIA+ Health & Harm Reduction Manager
Location: Brookfield, Connecticut
Email: edelmann@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
My daughter. Queer leaders making moves all around the globe. How resilient people are despite the simultaneous efforts to cause them harm.
What outrages you?
Apathy. Capitalism. Racism. Transphobia. Trying to figure out how to work within the confines of the very systems that cause us so much distress.
Terra Haywood (she/they)
Grant Manager
Location: Oakland, CA
Email: terrahaywood@harmreduction.org
What inspires you?
The human experience, vulnerability, compassion and forgiveness, community, queers, harm reduction.
What outrages you?
2020, misguided internet trollers, call-out culture that contributes to unproductive shame/stigma, white fragility, late-stage capitalism, I don't love waiting in line.
Our Board of Directors
Susan Sherman, MPH, PhD (she/her)
Board Chair
Location: Baltimore, MD
Email: ssherman@jhsph.edu
Current Position/Organization: Professor - Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
What inspires you?
Social justice, harm reduction, humanity
What outrages you?
Social injustice, racism, antisemitism, narrow mindedness
Alex H. Kral, PhD (he/him)
Vice-Chair
Location: San Francisco, CA
Email: akral@ti.org
Current Position/Organization: Director - Urban Health Program, Research Triangle Institute International
What inspires you?
People fighting for justice and equality for all
What outrages you?
Disregard for people
Corinne Green (she/her)
Board Member
Location: New Orleans, LA
Email: corinne.p.green@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Advocate - Louisiana Trans Advocates
What inspires you?
The way the harm reduction community functions in solidarity with the larger movement gives me hope that tomorrow can and will be better than today. I came to harm reduction through queer policy work, and it's inspiring to see so many people from so many issue areas bringing their experience to bear to support and uplift people who use drugs.
What outrages you?
While I'm proud that harm reductionists manage to do so much with so little, the fact that we have to is maddening. The systems that create and perpetuate the injustices we seek to address are entrenched and well-funded.
Julie Stampler (she/her)
Board Member
Location: New York, NY
Email: julie@juliestampler.com
Current Position/Organization: Mother, Activist, Actor, Business Owner
What inspires you?
The Harm Reduction movement and the people in it inspires me.
What outrages you?
That people continue to die unnecessarily from overdose.
Location: Georgia
Email: shantwina@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Mother, Finance Executive at Morgan Stanley
What inspires you?
My children and family.
What outrages you?
People being marginalized.
Location: Baltimore, MD
Email: rajani.gudlavalleti@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Director of Mobilization/Co-Executive Director, Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition
What inspires you?
It is truly inspiring to observe plants just doing their thing. I stop in my tracks to learn about justice workers cultivating joy. Femme BIPOC sci-fi and fantasy writers can take all my money. The unabashed creativity of humans, plants, animals, and space is remarkable.
What outrages you?
Rage has fueled me for over half my life, since I first became an organizer. Powerful people and entities who care more about PR than well, anything or anyone else, will spin me to a fury. Surviving and pushing against oppression for so long, I am tired. We are tired. So these days what outrages me most is when I and those I love (including harm reductionists) can't access the rest we deserve.
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Email: lucy.trieshmann@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Legal Fellow, ACLU Disability Rights Program
What inspires you?
The resiliency of marginalized people and communities to keep fighting, even when the challenge of oppression seems insurmountable.
What outrages you?
Unkindness, apathy, gluten free bread, rideshare scooters.
Location: Wilmington, NC
Email: mbeaddy3384@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Project Manager, Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice
What inspires you?
Everyone who has come before me, journaling and other forms of creative expression, and the audacity of small children.
What outrages you?
The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other developed country.
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Email: dupegui@gmail.com
Current Position/Organization: Data Analyst at Observatorio de Equidad de Género – Puerto Rico
What inspires you?
The resistance and power of social movements like the feminist and harm reduction movements to challenge the status quo and work together to question and dismantle it by pushing forward new paradigms from a perspective of compassion, dignity, and solidarity.
What outrages you?
Injustice, racism, stigma, and discrimination that affects people who use drugs, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals and women. How pervasive race, social, and class privilege is and how the most disenfranchised communities are the ones who suffered most of the negative impacts related to drug use.