A Goodbye, A Hello: DanceSafe Welcomes New Board President
Last Updated: July 26, 2022
DanceSafe has undergone some pretty substantial changes over the last few years, and our wonderful team – including our Board of Directors – has continuously brought a unique and precious set of talents to this process. Today, we are both saddened to announce the departure of our current Board president, Chalaina Connors, and thrilled to present our new Board president, Sara Gael.
Chalaina Connors, MA, LPC, has been involved with DanceSafe for over 20 years. Starting as a volunteer two decades ago, she sat on the Board for the last 7 years, and was the president of the board for the past two. She recently decided to step down from the board to focus on volunteering with DanceSafe in a different capacity, helping with different programs and more direct service than she was able to do while on the board of directors.
We are deeply grateful and forever indebted to Chalaina for her extraordinary service to DanceSafe and the community we all know and love. After two entire decades of participation in DanceSafe’s growth and development, we cannot wait to follow and support her next steps.
We are humbled and honored to welcome our new Board president, Sara Gael! Sara’s work as an expert harm reductionist and MAPS clinical therapist makes her an incredibly valuable advisor and part of the DanceSafe team – you can read her introduction below.
“Dear DanceSafe community and supporters,
After serving on the DanceSafe Board of Directors for the past year, I am honored to be stepping in as Board president and continuing to support the work of the DanceSafe staff, chapters, and volunteers. Thank you to Chalaina Connors, outgoing board president, for your years of service to this organization. The work that DanceSafe has done to promote the health and safety of the community over the years is inspiring. An organization that prioritizes honest drug education and an innovative harm reduction approach to substance use, DanceSafe has been a leader in the harm reduction movement since 1998. Today, the organization continues to develop resources, services, and information for the benefit of public health. In this time of unparalleled societal change, when the nightlife and rave scene is put on world-wide pause, harm reduction education and services are still just as crucial as ever. I look forward to continuing to contribute to DanceSafe’s mission as we work collectively toward a vision of safe and informed communities.
Sincerely,
Sara Gael, MA
DanceSafe Board President”