Naomi Long 2009 National Faculty Member

Naomi Long is director of the Washington, D.C. Metro office, for the Drug Policy Alliance, working primarily as a policy advocate and community organizer in the District of Columbia and Maryland. She is responsible for developing legislative and media strategies for drug policy reform, building advocacy coalitions and providing leadership development for community leaders and groups to advance alternatives to the failed war on drugs.Prior to this position, Long was the field organizer for the organization’s Office of National Affairs, charged with mobilizing drug policy reform activists in key congressional districts. Between that role and her current one, she was the national coordinator for the Campaign to End AIDS.

Long’s career began with a position as campaign coordinator for the D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute where she helped coordinate a grassroots campaign to win landmark legislation in Maryland for treatment-instead-of-incarceration. Long earned her B.A. in political science and urban studies from Rhodes College. In addition to drug policy reform, Long is also passionate about helping to develop the capacity and skills of the next generation of progressive leaders. She currently trains for Wellstone Action, a Minnesota-based training institute and works extensively in the Campus Camp program.

Her experience as a training consultant includes working with groups at the United Nations Youth Summit, Power Shift, the American Civil Liberties Union Youth Leaders program, and more than a dozen colleges and universities across the country.”