Jessica Hulsey Nickel’s first advocacy project came when she was in elementary school — and she hasn’t stopped educating others about addiction and prevention since then. It’s been 20 years –and since then she founded the Addiction Policy Center.
As a little girl, her parents both suffered from drug-use disorders and she spent long stints in foster care and living with grandparents as her parents navigated their way through grueling addictions.
Her tough beginnings led her to a life of passionate advocacy, rather than becoming a statistic of the drug epidemic herself. She found herself at Princeton University and not long after, working with every President from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump.
She’s re-creating the conversation around addiction, cultivating attitudes and approaches to drug–use disorders centered around the science behind addiction, the humanity of those affected and the tangible ways we can combat this crisis one person at a time.
I’ve been so inspired by her work and measured approach. She’s helping teach us all how to be better friends, neighbors, parents and siblings. I loved when she said, “There’s nothing more powerful than a well-informed mother.”
It reminded me of the article I wrote recently expressing the power that moms have to transform this addiction crisis and get those death toll numbers down significantly.
What we talked about:
- Addiction Policy Forum
- Parent Tool Kit
- The Glass Castle
- The Art of Racing in the Rain
- Game of Thrones, Ellen, Shameless
Connect with Jessica: