Rachael Cooper is an Associate Director for the National Stigma Initiative. In this role, Rachael is responsible for a variety of initiatives aimed at reducing the stigmas associated with addiction, working with a variety of audiences that include employers, healthcare professionals, and more.
Before joining Shatterproof, Rachael was the Senior Program Manager and Opioid Subject Matter Expert at the National Safety Council, where she worked to address the impacts of substance use in the workplace and help employers better support their employees who are living with a substance use disorder or mental health condition. She also led the mental health pillar of the SAFER Initiative, a national response aimed at keeping employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she convened a group of national leaders and experts on mental health to help employers support their employees through both the short- and long-term mental health impacts of the pandemic. Prior to her work at the National Safety Council, she worked in the harm reduction field both in France and in Milwaukee, WI, running a syringe exchange and overdose education and naloxone distribution program.
Kristen Pendergrass serves as the Vice President, State Policy at Shatterproof. Previously, she worked at the Pew Charitable Trusts leading state relations and strategy for the Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Initiative and for the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative helping state and local governments incorporate evidence-based policymaking into the budget and policy processes.
Before joining Pew in November 2015, Ms. Pendergrass worked as a policy advisor for the House Majority Caucus in the Oregon Legislature, chief of staff to the Oregon House Majority Whip, and as a legislative assistant in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Kristen holds a master’s degree in social welfare policy from the Boston University School of Social Work and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.
Paul Krupski – Paul was named the Director of Opioid Initiatives at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) in October, 2017. Paul has two decades of experience in the field of substance use, which includes work at the local, county and state levels. His work has centered on implementing evidence-based policies, programs, and strategies to positively impact substance use in communities. Paul has previously worked at DHS as a Prevention Coordinator with the Division of Care and Treatment Services Substance Abuse Services Section, and as the Statewide Training Coordinator with the Division of Public Health Office of Preparedness and Emergency Healthcare. Prior to working for the State of Wisconsin, Paul was the Policy Director for a non-profit organization in Madison, and also spent 10 years working for a community-based nonprofit organization in San Diego, California.
John Nygren currently serves as the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, the voice of 12 Wisconsin Community Based Health Plans. John joined the Association after a 14-year career in the Wisconsin State Assembly where he served as Co-Chair of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance. He was a key voice in the legislature on complicated policy issues including Insurance and healthcare. He was recognized Nationally by American Medical Association and the White House as a leader on addiction and State Governments response to the Opioid crisis.
Rep. Dianne Hesselbein possesses a rich background in public service beginning with her 2005 election to the Middleton Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education. In 2008 she was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors and served 3 terms. During her three terms on the Dane County Board, she served on many important committees and organizations: Chairperson of the Budget Committee, Sergeant-at-arms, Public Protection and Judiciary Committee, Economic Development Committee, University Extension Committee, Youth in Governance Study Committee; member of the Cultural Affairs Commission, the Immigration Task Force, and the Greater Madison Visitor and Convention Bureau Board of Directors.
Rep. Jon Plumer is a small business owner, Plumer Karate America. Former route salesperson for Kraft Foods for 30 years. A member of the Lodi Area EMS Commission; Lodi Optimist Club; Project SEARCH (board member); Columbia County Board Supervisor; Lodi Knights of Columbus. Former member of the Lodi Town Board, the Lodi & Lake Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce (3-term president), and former chair of the Assembly Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention. Rep. Plumer was elected to the Assembly in 2018 & 2020.
State Senator Melissa Agard was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and is a proud graduate of East High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A lifelong Madison resident, Senator Agard is a proud mom to four sons and lives on Madison’s Northside. She is a former small business owner and Dane County Board Supervisor. Senator Agard was first elected to the State Assembly in November 2012 and is currently serving in her fifth term in the Wisconsin State Legislature. She was elected to the State Senate in November 2020. She represents the 16th Senate District, which encompasses much of the north, east and south side of Dane County.
Senator Patrick Testin is proud to represent the 24th Senate District, which includes parts of Wood, Jackson, Adams, Waushara, and Monroe counties, as well as all of Portage County. A lifelong Wisconsinite, Patrick grew up near the Michigan border in Marinette, where he learned the value of hard work at an early age. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2011, he remained in Portage County and took a job as a sales professional, currently working for a local wine distributor. He was elected to the State Senate in 2016. Senator Testin and his wife Hannah live in the Portage County Town of Hull with their dogs Reilly and Sage.
Josh Kaul was sworn in as Wisconsin’s 45th Attorney General on January 7, 2019. Josh’s top priority is public safety. Under his leadership, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has worked to combat the opioid epidemic and the increasing use of meth in Wisconsin, to make our schools and communities safer from gun violence, and to pass legislation designed to prevent Wisconsin from having another backlog of untested sexual assault kits. Josh is also committed to fighting for clean and safe drinking water and against climate change and to protecting the rights of Wisconsinites.
To hear about and discuss the issues before the event please join one of our virtual community sessions! These sessions will occur the week before the event covering the following topics:
1) Access to affordable treatment regardless of insurance status (4/18 at noon)
2) Sober housing, including emergency housing for pre-treatment/post-reoccurence (4/19 at noon)
3) Changes to laws for non-violent drugs/alcohol infractions (4/20 at noon)
4) Peer support/recovery coach training programs in jails/prisons (4/21 at noon)
5) Stigma (Day of the event--April 27 from 9:50-10:30)
Zoom link for all community sessions: Expired
