Last Updated: July 26, 2022

The DanceSafe Staff and Board are thrilled to announce the addition of Rachel “Sputnik” Clark to the DanceSafe National team! Rachel has provided services to DanceSafe as a contractor for the last year, taking over our social media, Test It! Alerts, volunteer onboarding and coordination, and other program and communications-related tasks. Prior to this, she had been volunteering with DanceSafe in 2014 before joining the team as an intern in early 2018. 

Rachel received her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Visual Art from Oberlin College, where she also developed and taught a course about drugs, harm reduction, and counterculture for two years. Her interest in drugs and harm reduction began when she discovered the Erowid vaults at the age of 12, which she spent countless hours sifting through in the middle of the night. 

She has been providing community harm reduction services since early high school, acting as a drug-related crisis hotline, offering drug checking services, and providing psychedelic support. She also works as roaming harm reduction with Insomniac’s Ground Control, and founded Oberlin Students for Sensible Drug Policy in spring 2019. 

Rachel’s passion for drug education and policy extends into all aspects of her life, and her knowledge pertaining to the current struggles faced by people who use drugs draws from her own personal involvement in and exposure to a wide variety of nightlife communities (and communities who use drugs on a more general scale) since 2011. She is dedicated to expanding public understanding of the intersectionality of the War on Drugs, particularly as it pertains to racial and social justice.

Her dedication to expanding her knowledge and unwavering commitment to community safety and education have made it clear that Rachel would be a great addition to DanceSafe’s staff. Rachel joins us part time as Programs & Communications Coordinator, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her on the team!