Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)
43
4
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: New York, NY
Founded: 2000
Mission: Our mission is to advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies.
Tags:
the war on drugs, policy reform, sentencing policy, racial disparity, racial discrimination, women, mass criminalizaiton, conviction and exclusion
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Ethan Nadelmann.
Nadelmann was born in New York City and received his BA, JD, and PhD from Harvard, and a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He then taught politics and public affairs at Princeton University from 1987 to 1994, where his speaking and writings on drug policy—in publications ranging from Science and Foreign Affairs to American…
See full bio.
Financial Data
| Read Annual Report | Overhead Ratio: 31.31% |
Charity Navigator Rating:
(profile)
|
Total Revenue: $8,875,760 |
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
70 W 36th St, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10018, USA
Twitter:
Story:
The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world, largely due to the war on drugs. Since the 1970s, drug war practices have helped stigmatize, criminalize and marginalize millions of Americans – disproportionately poor people and people of color – while failing utterly to reduce problematic drug use, drug-related disease transmission or overdose deaths. The Drug Policy Alliance is committed to identifying and promoting health-centered alternatives to harmful, punitive drug war policies. We are working to stem the tide of low-level drug arrests, to reverse draconian, and often discriminatory, sentencing practices, and to eliminate life-long barriers faced by people with even a minor drug conviction.
Expert Reviews of Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The Drug Policy Alliance is lauded for its successful advocacy programs focusing on a range of drug criminalization issues including sentencing reform, harm reduction, and legalization.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
The Drug Policy Alliance has many strengths that include their smart and innovative leaders, their emphasis on collaborating with other organizations, and their sincere and unwavering commitment to drug issues.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Experts have recommended that the Drug Policy Alliance should improve their share of resources across the fifty states and should divest more attention to community education and collaboration with other drug policy reform organizations.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Strong National Leader |
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DPA has been a strong leader, on the national and local level, in growing awareness of and support for drug policy reform that affects the criminalization of drug users. | ||
Frame Drug Policy Issues Nationally |
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They helped to frame drug policy issues nationally. | ||
Successful Advocacy Programs |
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DPA has been successful in many states in advancing drug policy, harm reduction, medical marijuana, and sentencing reform. | ||
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The Drug Policy Alliance is really making a difference in changing the terms of debate about the drug war. I think it is in no small part to their efforts that it is now somewhat acceptable to advocate legalization in public discourse. They have made opposition to prohibition respectable. | ||
Raises Awareness |
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DPA has done an excellent job of creating awareness around the bad policy created by the War on Drugs that has led to over-incarceration in the U.S. | ||
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The organization has done an excellent job raising public awareness about the problems involved in criminalizing drug addiction. | ||
Successful Reform |
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DPA has helped with the elimination of a crack-cocaine disparity | ||
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This group has moved national and federal reform efforts like few others in this sector. | ||
Advocacy, National Leadership |
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DPA's connection between the grassroots and policymakers, through their media team, is unmatched on a national scale. The recent California proposition on marijuana regulation was a huge success in building awareness and pushing the idea of what is possible. DPA's impact can also be measured through the success of their grantees, as DPA works to build their capacity on state levels. Their infrastructure is built for legitimate national networking and collaboration. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Savvy and Strong Leadership |
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All staff members are extremely talented and committed individuals. | ||
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Their executive director is smart and articulate and is good at representing their position. I also think that they've been good at getting a seat at the policy table, which had been denied to drug reform advocates for years. Their leadership is very savvy, and their staff is very helpful to allied organizations. | ||
Clear Vision |
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They have a clear mission and message, strong leadership, national vision, and highly sophisticated campaigns. | ||
Strong Emphasis on Collaboration |
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DPA has an excellent team, and their efforts to share resources through a grant process is very intuitive. | ||
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The organization has strong leadership and dedicated staff that are committed to collaborative work. | ||
High Integrity |
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Many on staff have personal experiences to draw from and guide the work, and DPA shares a genuine connection with grassroots organizations on the front lines. They continue to develop their technology and are very successful with national online campaigns. Most of all, they are one of the few non-profits of this caliber who never wavered in their support of an issue regardless of who is in the White House. They have been coordinating pressure on the Obama Administration from the beginning. | ||
Commitment to Diversity |
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The group's focus on developing leaders of color as well as staying focused on their long term legislative goals has garnered much success. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Better Perception of Its Relationship with Other Drug Organizations |
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There is a perception, not completely inaccurate (but also sometimes exaggerated) that DPA overshadows other drug policy reform organizations, limiting the potential of the overall drug policy reform movement. I don't share that view, but I also understand that it exists and accept that it is a problem even if not entirely true. | ||
Equal Distribution of Resources Nationwide |
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They could benefit from more diversification in their strategy. They have lots of resources devoted to ballot measures in a few states. | ||
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DPA has the potential to fund 50 "Anchor" positions, one in each state, at grassroots organizations working on drug policy. They could also provide (immediately) more technical training for their grantees, including developing access to online campaign software. | ||
Greater Attention to Community Education |
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DPA could spend more time educating communities of color about the impact of the War on Drugs. | ||
More Efforts to Connect with Policymakers |
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I think they could make better connections to the broader criminal justice reform community. They could have a more robust presence in Capitol Hill and in state legislatures. I do understand that they're working on this, however. | ||
Linking Federal and Community Efforts |
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Their challenge is more concretely linking their federal work to local fights. | ||
Leadership
Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
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