I’m a public health professional with a background in health communications, research, and program development. Most recently I worked with Malawian colleagues on USAID-supported harm reduction programs to empower adolescent girls and young women and prevent the transmission of HIV. Before that, I spent almost 20 years working in healthcare PR, creating campaigns to prevent disease and promote health and wellbeing. 

In March 2020, that all changed when I lost my 21-year-old son Will, and I pivoted a lifetime of experience toward harm reduction in a different arena: substance use and psychedelic safety. I now serve as executive director of the William G. Nash Foundation, a nonprofit started with my family to honor Will’s life and legacy. I also co-founded the Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Education to further important work on public health education, balanced public conversations, and responsible psychedelic policy reform.

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In recent years, I have been invited to speak about the importance of harm reduction approaches in drug education at several national conferences. I serve on the board of the Carolina Harm Reduction Union. I have authored and co-authored opinion-editorials and peer-reviewed papers, including one with population-level epidemiological data showing a more than 55% increase in ER visits related to hallucinogen use in California in recent years.

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I am driven every day to prevent even one other family from getting that middle-of-the-night phone call.

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