Harm Reduction International is governed by a Board of Directors, elected for three-year terms of office.
At our Annual General Meeting in 2015, the membership approved a change in HRI's governance from an Association model to a Foundation model.
Board of Directors
Saumya Kailasapathy
Saumya is currently a Program Manager at the Asian Development Bank with over 17 years of experience working in finance and strategy, including work for Clinton Health Access Initiative and Deutsche… Read more
Olga Belyaeva
Olga Belyaeva is a drug policy reform activist from Ukraine, based in Lithuania. She has pioneered in organizing a community volunteers based needle exchange center in Dnepropetrovsk in 2001. She… Read more
Patricia Haddad - Treasurer
Patricia Haddad is a public health professional and consultant, with over 10 years of experience in the fields of HIV/AIDS, drugs, and harm reduction. Patricia started working in these fields at… Read more
Susie McLean - Vice Chair
Susie McLean is an international HIV prevention and harm reduction specialist, with 30 years of experience in the community based response to HIV as a programmer, researcher and policy specialist in… Read more
Pat O'Hare
Professor Pat O'Hare was the Executive Director of Harm Reduction International from its founding in 1996 until he stepped down in 2004. Read more
John Ryan - Chair
John Ryan is CEO of Penington Institute, an organisation that connects substance use research to practical action including by facilitating International Overdose Awareness Day - a campaign to… Read more
Ivan Varentsov - Secretary
Ivan Varentsov is Information and Advocacy Coordinator at Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice Read more