Locations
Chapters
Presidents
Allison Tanita
Allison Tanita is a third-year undergraduate student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo studying pre-veterinary animal science. First hearing about End Overdose via Instagram during the formation of the UCLA chapter; she knew Cal Poly was in dire need of these same services and resources. Seeing firsthand how addiction and overdose can impact families and communities, she appreciates the compassionate approach End Overdose brings to harm reduction. Allison hopes to bring awareness to these overdose prevention resources and make them more accessible.
Anna Khazem
Anna Khazem is a third year undergraduate student at the University of California, Irvine and is double majoring in Criminology, Law, and Society and Psychological Science. She was motivated to start a chapter and begin working with End Overdose after an inspirational figure of hers passed as a result of an overdose, and she saw the need to save lives like his from being taken again. She believes that there is far too much stigma and not enough help being offered to those who struggle with drug dependency and addiction. She recognizes the need for change in her community and intends to educate Orange County on the opioid epidemic and how to ensure that no more lives have to be lost to overdose.
Aspen Hough
Aspen is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Pursuing a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology, she is dedicated to making a positive impact. As the Chapter President and founder of End Overdose at UT Dallas, her commitment extends beyond the campus as she aspires to educate not only UTD students but also the broader Dallas community on opioid overdose prevention and response. Aspen's passion for harm reduction and addiction recovery has been a driving force since high school, but her decision to join End Overdose was sparked by the alarming rise of the fentanyl crisis in her community. Actively involved in the concert industry and the EDM scene, Aspen has witnessed firsthand the impact of the crisis on her beloved community, fueling her advocacy for change and awareness.
Ben Lewis
Ben was born and raised in the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated with a B.S. in Statistics from UNC Wilmington. Seeing the negative effects of America’s drug war impact members of his own family, both in terms of incarceration and overdosing, Ben became passionate about drug policy reform a few years after graduating college. He’s currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Technology and Public Policy at MIT, researching policing and drug policy. Ensuring the health and safety of people in the drug-using community is Ben’s number one goal in life, which is why he’s honored to be Head of Operations for End Overdose Boston.
Brian Wong
Brian Wong is a third year undergraduate student at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) studying business administration and psychology. After witnessing how addiction and drug overdose can tear people apart he wanted to be a part of an organization that focuses on harm reduction, as well as dispelling the stigma around talking about drug use and preventative measures. He is currently working with the UC Riverside chapter to equip their student body and the Riverside community with knowledge and resources that can save lives and prevent overdoses.
Cara Cavaretta
Cara Cavarretta is a medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. After witnessing family members struggle with addiction, she became more attune to the epidemic that is substance use and how it is an illness, not a personal failure. In working as an EMT at a rehabilitation center, she saw firsthand how something as simple as a nasal spray can be life-saving. Once in medical school, Cara determined a need in the surrounding community to spread awareness about the signs of a drug overdose and teach folks how to respond in the event of one. She and a fellow medical student, Jacob Hershenhouse, co-founded a chapter of End Overdose at the Keck School of Medicine to address these needs in Eastside Los Angeles.
Ekta Anand
Ekta Anand is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt pursuing degrees in Neuroscience and Communication of Science and Technology. A pre-medical student, she hopes to combine her interests in science and writing, as well as her love of service to provide a meaningful experience for patients. She believes End Overdose provides an essential service on college campuses and beyond, and is grateful to contribute to the mission of educating and equipping her fellow students with overdose prevention training, alongside her friend and co-president Matthew. In addition to this, she is involved in a research lab, tutors at her campus writing studio, and delivers health workshops to local homeless shelters.
Eliza Yass
Eliza Yass is a third year medical student at George Washington University. After working to coordinate substance use treatment for individuals in Boston after college, she became passionate about harm reduction and reducing stigma towards addiction. She and fellow medical student, Prianka Kumar co-founded EO at GW School of Medicine to spread awareness about drug use and increase education surrounding overdose response within the medical community and beyond.
Ember Yanez
Ember Yanez is a second year undergraduate student at Pomona College majoring in chemistry. Ember grew up in a community where addiction was very prevalent and lost multiple loved ones to drug overdose. This lead her to advocate for harm reduction on a small scale in her community throughout high school. She discovered End Overdose in the fall of her first semester of college. She recognized the huge impact the organization was having all across the country and decided to bring End Overdose’s lifesaving mission to her campus. Ember believes that the stigma around drug use creates unnecessary death and suffering and is dedicated to educate people about harm reduction and end overdose-related deaths in her community.
Grace Adler
Grace is a third year undergraduate student at Occidental College majoring in Psychology. She has grown up seeing the effects of addiction first hand in her family, friends, and city. Her dad lost his life due to an opioid overdose when she was five years old, and this experience cultivated a person determined to put an end to overdose. She began volunteering with us in the summer of 2022 - tabling at events, packing kits, and participating in trainings throughout LA. Ultimately, she decided that this harm reduction resource would lead to significant positive change at her college. Before she introduced End Overdose to Occidental, the school was not properly equipped for overdose situations. Considering this is a small liberal arts college, the small student body provides an opportunity for intimate trainings, open conversations, and real change to the perception of the overdose epidemic. Grace believes that harm reduction is the most effective way to end overdose because it targets the problem with love and compassion rather than judgement and misconception.
Hayden Rutter
Hayden Rutter is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Alabama, studying biology. He is on the pre-medical track in the Honors College at UA. His passion for the medical field has brought him to help find a solution to the current drug overdose epidemic. Through the founding of the University of Alabama chapter, Hayden hopes to eliminate drug-related overdose on the UA campus and for the greater Tuscaloosa community.
Ishi Nagpal
Ishi Nagpal is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Marketing, Management & Human Resources, and International Business. She became interested in End Overdose after finding the organization on Tik Tok and researching its mission. After discussing the need for an organization like End Overdose on campus with roommate Katherine Kafkis, they came together and started the UW-Madison chapter of End Overdose. Ishi hopes to make overdose prevention resources accessible as well as provide life-saving training.
Jackie Pawlowski
Jackie Pawlowski is a born and raised Chicagoan. She is in school pursuing a degree in sociology. Looking to volunteer, help make a difference, and motivated to do something in memory of her cousin and help others avoid the heartache of loss due to overdose, she happened to come across the End Overdose organization. Since starting with End Overdose, she has heard countless stories from others about their experiences of loss to overdose. The stories of others are those which help her maintain her drive and dedication to the cause of educating others of important, lifesaving information to anyone willing to listen and learn. She continues to train and educate in memory of her cousin, Shevy. She runs the End Overdose branch in Illinois and continues to learn and educate herself about this nationwide issue and enjoys helping broaden Illinoisans’ knowledge of ways we can end overdose deaths.
Jill Stevenson
Jill Stevenson is a Software Account Director located in Atlanta, GA. Her passion for harm reduction started after losing her sister to an overdose. She began researching harm reduction and came across End Overdose on instagram. As someone involved in the nightlife and music scene, she knew she had access to spread the message among the Atlanta crowd that desperately needed it. Jill planned and executed the first End Overdose Atlanta event in April, 2022. After the great turn out and positive feedback, she took on launching the Atlanta Chapter. Jill believes that by breaking the stigma, educating, and distributing resources, there will be a significant change among the Atlanta community.
Jonathan Liang
Jonathan is a fourth Year Human Biology Major at UC San Diego (UCSD) on the Pre-Research track. He is currently a Pharmacy Technician and apart of the Pre-Health Professional Fraternity Delta Epsilon Mu (DEM). He came across End Overdose through social media and was inspired by their mission to help save lives. After seeing the high costs of medication and naloxone alike, his goal was to help bring low cost Narcan to his school. His goal in chartering a chapter at UCSD is to break the stigma as well as supplying the community with the resources necessary to save lives, making a difference in the rave community and beyond.
Katherine Kafkis
Hi, I am Katherine Kafkis, a third-year undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and I am majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a certificate in Chemistry. I came across End Overdose through my roommate and Co-President, Ishita Nagpal. The minute I read about End Overdose I knew it was something that my campus needed and quickly got to work registering the UW-Madison Chapter. I hope to spread awareness on the prevalence of overdose and destigmatize drug addiction while also teaching fellow students on my campus how to potentially save a life
Kendra Bean
Kendra Bean was born and raised in Maui and is currently attending UH Mānoa on O`ahu, pursuing a public health and epidemiology degree. End Overdose is an organization she had been following closely for some time, especially after seeing the devastating impacts that drug overdoses have had on her community. She greatly believes in harm reduction and that individuals should have access to, and be equipped with, both the preventative and responsive measures that EO makes available free of charge. Those in the Hawaii chapter come from a variety of backgrounds including nursing, teaching, biology, and public health. Kendra’s goals of running the End Overdose branch in Hawaii are two fold: to educate herself about this nationwide epidemic, and to give back to the community that raised her by empowering individuals with the knowledge and confidence to identify and respond to a suspected overdose.
Maddie Dufault
Maddie Dufault is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Washington. She is studying communication with a double minor in entrepreneurship and business administration. Maddie was inspired by the work she saw End Overdose doing in Southern California and saw the impact the organization would make on her campus and in the Seattle area. She hopes through bringing End Overdose’s mission to her campus, the community will expand their knowledge about opioids and overdoses will end for good.
Matthew Antkowiak
Matthew Antkowiak is a third-year undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University. He is majoring in neuroscience and is on the pre-med track. He is also an EMT and volunteers with Trussville Fire and Rescue. Matthew’s passion is healthcare, and he is dedicated to the health and well-being of others. This is one of the reasons he sought to bring End Overdose to the campus of Vanderbilt University. Matthew serves as co-president with his friend Ekta Anand, and it is their goal to not only train Vanderbilt students on how to recognize and respond to an overdose but also other college students throughout the greater Nashville area.
Noelle Behar
Noelle Behar is a dedicated fourth-year Health Science major with a passion for harm reduction. As an advocate for health and well-being, her journey through the world of health science has led her to a profound understanding of the importance of harm reduction strategies. She values the idea of creating a safer community and igniting a larger conversation about substance safety. She hopes to contribute to a world where compassion and science converge to make a lasting impact.
Prianka Kumar
Prianka Kumar is a fourth year medical student at George Washington University who is also pursing an MPH degree through the Milken School of Public Health. She is fiercely passionate about harm reduction and increasing education and awareness around drug use alongside her co-president and fellow medical student Eliza. After medical school, she plans to become a psychiatrist specialized in addiction. In her free time, she is an electronic music lover and can be found at shows and music festivals across the country (which is how she found out about End Overdose!)
Rebecca Wait
Rebecca Wait is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. She’s studying political science with a double minor in business and law, societies, and justice. Rebecca came about End Overdose when she bonded over the organization with her close friend Maddie Dufault in there entrepreneurship class last winter. They both realized the importance of this and wanted to quickly become involved. Rebecca now serves as co-president with Maddie Dufault at the University of Washington End Overdose chapter. Rebecca hopes to educate and inspire students in her community so that we can stop overdoses for good.
Rohma Akhtar
Rohma Akhtar is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, majoring in Health, Society & Populations with a minor in Gender & Women's Studies and Spanish. She developed an interest in End Overdose after losing an inspirational figure to an accidental overdose. He was a vocal advocate for mental health and addiction issues, actively working to eliminate the stigma that hinders crucial conversations aimed at saving lives. Witnessing the positive impact her inspirational figure had on his community, Rohma was inspired to follow suit. Rohma’s goal is to provide her community with valuable resources while fostering a sense of belonging for those who are struggling on their own. She firmly believes that no one should have to deal with the challenges of mental health and addiction in isolation and aims to forge a path towards empathy, awareness, and change
Sophie Kennedy
Sophie Kennedy is a student at the University of Colorado Boulder studying Integrative Physiology. Harm reduction — especially through the intersection of shared personal experience and accessible biology — has been a long time passion of hers. She is a proponent of teaching adolescents how illicit substances affect them and how to reduce potential dangers allowing them make an educated decision on how and if they use.
Tyler Mahomes
Tyler Mahomes is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. He's studying legal studies with a minor in public policy. As a UC Berkeley student, Tyler has gained experience as a Healthy and Safety Officer for multiple student organizations and advocated for student health and wellness which led him to End Overdose. Tyler aims to make overdose prevention resources more accessible to students on the UC Berkeley campus and beyond to end overdoses for good.