Mark O’Brien has a proven track record of bringing people and organizations together to solve complex problems in health and public safety.
Mark is a recognized expert on criminal justice, addiction, and mental health with over a fifteen years of experience advocating for and implementing smart policies and practices in these areas. He excels at building and leading national coalitions and local collaborations, developing strategic partnerships, and managing projects that cross divisions and organizations. He is a proven leader in establishing relationships among agencies and organizations with diverse priorities and missions and achieving consensus among stakeholders. He enjoys collaborating to identify and implement new ways of doing things and managing changes in how organizations work internally and with partners.
Mark previously served as Addiction Policy Forum’s Executive Vice President of Programs and Education where he led the organization’s work to educate and train the public, policymakers, practitioners, families, and patients about the disease of addiction and evidence-based ways to address it.
Prior to joining Addiction Policy Forum, Mark was Baltimore City’s Director of Opioid Overdose Prevention and Treatment, managing a high-profile overdose response cited as a model by President Barack Obama, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and U.S. Director of National Drug Control Policy Michael Botticelli.
He was the Director of Communications and Senior Policy Associate in Legal Action Center’s Washington, D.C. office where he advocated to reduce barriers for people with criminal records and expand access to substance use disorder treatment for those in the criminal justice system.
Some highlights of these experiences include:
- As Executive Vice President of Programs and Education at Addiction Policy Forum, Mark managed the organization’s strategic partnership with its largest funder and created a process for engaging stakeholders in local and state jurisdictions to develop strategic plans involving whole-of-government responses to the opioid crisis.
- As Director of Opioid Overdose Prevention and Treatment for Baltimore City, Mark established and led the city’s Interagency Fentanyl Task Force, consisting of over 25 local, state, and federal agencies, health systems, and non-profits. He created a first-in-the-nation Overdose Spike Detection and Rapid Response system involving collaboration among all 25 agencies.
- As a Senior Policy Associate at Legal Action Center, Mark co-chaired the Reentry Working Group of the Justice Roundtable, a coalition of over 100 organizations working to improve public safety and justice. This coalition successfully advocated for significant federal policy changes and increased funding for criminal justice programs.
Mark has a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, a Masters Degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Law and American Civilization from Towson University, where he is also a professor of political science.
Learn more about Mark’s work at www.marklobrien.com.
