Jeanne Porges '20 | DePaul University

Jeanne Porges '20 and I'm a senior at DePaul University majoring in psychology, with a concentration in human services, and minoring in philosophy. I have been accepted into Adler University's Clinical Psychology PsyD program and I plan to begin the program in the fall of 2022. I'm interested in studying trauma during my time at Adler and I plan to take advantage of their emphasis on traumatic stress. After school, I plan to go into psychedelic-assisted therapy, specifically MDMA-assisted therapy to treat PTSD. I was accepted to SSDOP's psychedelic assisted mentorship pipeline and if I am matched with a mentor, this opportunity should help me reach my endeavors as well. After three years of personal research on psychedelic-assisted therapy, I understand the inherent connection between policy and practice, which has led to my passion regarding drug policy and my involvement with SSDP. My goal on the board is to use these interests and passions in order to influence change.

Justin Ayala '20 | University of California Santa Cruz

Justin Ayala '20 (he/him) is a Northern California native, a former University of California Santa Cruz Biochemistry Undergraduate, photographer, drug policy activist, and psychedelic harm reductionist. Justin is constantly exploring the intersection between art, science, and social justice, and integrates the love and strength he has found being part of the LGBT, Latinx, and Asian communities into everything he does. Justin first joined SSDP in 2020 after witnessing the UCSC chapter help pass a historic psychedelic decriminalization bill in Santa Cruz. Since then, Justin's work in drug policy and psychedelic spaces has been rooted in a desire to challenge systems of oppression, while discovering and implementing multifaceted and ethical solutions to our mental health and overdose crisis. Justin currently volunteers with Fireside Project, a psychedelic emotional support line, and has previously worked with the MAPS MDMA Training Team. He is currently based in the California Bay Area.

Axel Bilbao '08 | University of Central Florida

Axel Bilbao '08 was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived there until he was 7 when he moved to the United States. He has lived experience as a person in recovery from addiction as well as bipolar disorder, and applied this in his direct service work. His start in drug policy was leading a NORML chapter at UCF and working on a medicinal cannabis amendment in Florida before getting involved with SSDP. Later, he went on to bring harm reduction efforts to Florida in 2013 by starting a harm reduction program bringing life saving Naloxone and sterile use supplies to people who use drugs. Most recently he worked on the campaign to legalize Syringe exchanges throughout Florida, the Infectious Disease Eliminations Act.

Ben Graham ‘22 | San Ramon Valley High School

Ben Graham ‘22, high school junior, is a student activist for harm reduction and drug decriminalization policies. As the youngest member of the Board, Ben aims to bring a new perspective to the organization and help expand SSDP’s outreach to high schoolers and beyond. Ben works to educate fellow high schoolers on safe drug consumption and advocates for a dignity-centered approach to addiction. He is currently planning on studying Political Science/Public Policy in college, go into law school, and ultimately become a public defense attorney to help his community.

Evan Hazlett '17 | DePaul University

Ev Hazlett '17 is an event planning extraordinaire familiar with many realms of SSDP. Recent graduate of DePaul University he holds a Bachelors of Science in Hospitality Leadership with a concentration in event management. He actively plans a variety of events and in the past has worked with organizations such as Dancesafe and Headcount. Over the years of his involvement with SSDP Ev has grown and explored the organization as a chapter leader and active member of board committees. Ev has served as Treasurer and President of the DePaul chapter as well as Chaired the Strategic Planning Committee and Vice Chaired the Inter-Network Collaboration Committee. In both 2020 and 2021 he was heavily involved with planning SSDP's first annual virtual Strategy Summit and virtual International Conferences. He holds a deep admiration for trees, music festivals, drug policy, and activism.

Amanda Ivatorov '19 | Yale University

Amanda is the Founder and President of the Yale chapter of SSDP. Through leading harm-reduction initiatives such as Narcan Certification courses, organizing educational talks and pannels, and hosting fentanyl test strip pop-up events, Amanda and her team at Yale aim to make campus safer for all. Outside of SSDP, Amanda enjoys weightlifting, humor, many cups of coffee, and conversing in American Sign Language.

Hena Malik '22 | University of Florida

A Muslim in the psychedelic space, yearning to learn more about the potentials of plant based medicine. Hena completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida in Biology, also holds a degree in Arts and Humanities, and is pursuing her master’s at the University of Wisconsin Madison in their Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation program. Hena currently works for the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and has worked with organizations including SSDP & DanceSafe. While promoting harm reduction and learning about the power of these sacred medicines, Hena was inspired to take action in the psychedelic community and destigmatize the use of these substances by engaging in education, and connecting religion to psychedelic use.

Evan Nison '09 | Ithaca College

Evan Nison '09 is the youngest ever Executive Director of NORML New Jersey, and has been a member on Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s Board of Directors for several years. He also runs a cannabis specific PR firm, NisonCo and is a co-founder of Whoopi & Maya.. In New York he is the Co-Founder of the NY Cannabis Alliance, which has helped craft numerous pieces of cannabis related legislation in New York. In 2010 he moved to California to run the college outreach effort for Prop 19 in California, which spanned over 40 schools. He was President of Ithaca Students for Sensible Drug Policy for 4 years, which was rated the #1 college drug law reform chapter in the country in 2011, and under his leadership passed one of the first college policies in the country that equalized penalties for cannabis and alcohol on campus. Evan was instrumental in the passage of the New York 911 Good Samaritan Law and served as Drug Policy Advisor to Mayor Svante Myrick of Ithaca, NY, one of the youngest mayors in the country, where he helped spearhead an effort to pass a US Conference of Mayors resolution supporting the legalization of marijuana. Evan has been mentioned in news sources such as the NY Times, Politico, USA Today, NBC New York, Bloomberg TV, Forbes, and has been profiled in the Ithaca Times, Home News Tribune, and the Sun Times. He also received the 2011 NORML Student Activism Award and High Times Freedom Fighter Award for his advocacy.

Sarah Noon '18 | Columbia University

Sarah Noon (she/her/hers) is a junior at Columbia University studying Political Science and Statistics with a focus on American Politics and public health policy. She began organizing with SSDP in 2018, founding and leading the Oakland Community College (OCC) chapter in Michigan before graduating in 2020. There she organized efforts with state legislators and hundreds of students to lobby for and help pass legislation to expunge the records of hundreds of thousands of Michiganders convicted for marijuana offenses. She is dedicated to dismantling the stigma surrounding the War on Drugs and the War on Poverty through advocacy and academia. She is a member of SSDP’s Policy Council Tactical Team and a NYC-based organizer. She dreams of helping to achieve a Green New Deal, the decriminalization of drugs and people who use drugs, and the strengthening of economic policies to improve social mobility.

Karley Snyder '18 | University of Pittsburgh

Karley Snyder '18 is a dedicated harm reductionist with a passion for sustainable drug policy. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, focusing in Social Policy. Karley also has dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in Nonfiction Writing and Anthropology and minored in Religious Studies. Karley is the Program Coordinator of the Overdose Reduction Techical Assistance Center with Pitt's Program Evaluation and Research Unit.

Jonathan Lubecky |

Jonathan M. Lubecky, U.S. Army SGT(R) , is the founder of Lubecky Strategic Direction, Veterans & Governmental Affairs Liason for MAPS, and VP Communications at Apollo Pact. He is a 12-year retiree of the U.S. Armed Forces, serving in both the Marine Corps and the Army.  He has been a freelance journalist since 2014. Since 2016 he has been a Strategic Communications & Governmental Affairs Consultant advocating for psychedelic medicine and Veterans. Jonathan returned from a deployment to Iraq in 2006. Shortly after returning, he was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a traumatic brain injury. While battling PTSD, enduring multiple forms of treatment, and taking dozens of pills per day to manage symptoms, he attempted to take his life five times.  While recovering from that fifth attempt in the hospital, he was surreptitiously instructed to “Google MDMA PTSD”. Beginning exactly 8 years after being released from active duty from Iraq, Jonathan began MDMA-assisted therapy in a MAPS Phase 2 study and completed the protocol in early 2015. As of November 22, 2022 he has been healed of PTSD as long as he had PTSD. Jon was appointed the National Veterans Director for the Rand Paul for President campaign. Realizing the potential of psychedelic medicine to heal his fellow veterans and the millions of Americans suffering as he once did, he has been involved in media, politics, and government affairs, with a focus on the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Media ever since receiving MDMA therapy. Jonathan graduated with honors from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, as a Veteran Day Student. He has a bachelor’s in political science with a concentration in international politics and military affairs with a minor in intelligence analysis. He is based in Washington DC