Management

A full listing of MPP staff and contact information is available at www.mpp.org/contact. Bios of key staff are below.

Rob Kampia
Executive Director

Rob Kampia is co-founder and executive director of MPP. A high school valedictorian and straight-A student, he served three months in prison for growing his own marijuana for personal use at Penn State University and was elected student body president two years later at that same school.

Upon graduating with honors from Penn State in 1993 with a degree in Engineering Science and a minor in English, he moved to Washington, D.C., for the purpose of ending the government’s war on marijuana users. He cofounded MPP in 1995; within two years, MPP established itself as the leading organization on Capitol Hill to call for the repeal of marijuana prohibition.

Rob has testified before legislative committees in California, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Vermont, Washington state, and the U.S. House of Representatives.

He has debated the marijuana issue on national TV dozens of times against then-White House Deputy Drug Czar Andrea Barthwell, then- Congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.), then-DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, former California Attorney General Dan Lungren, and other prohibitionists.

Rob helped author most of the medical marijuana laws that are now on the books in 13 states.

Alison Green
Chief of Staff

Alison Green is chief of staff for MPP, where she oversees the day-to-day management of the staff. Alison has written extensively on management practices: She is the co-author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader's Guide to Getting Results, a book on nonprofit management, and she writes a weekly item for U.S. News & World Report's online edition. Her advice has also been published by The Washington Post.

Before taking on her current role, Alison served as MPP’s director of membership and publications, overseeing revenue-raising programs and printed and online materials.

Before coming to MPP, Alison worked as the communications director and publications director for two grassroots advocacy organizations and spent six years as a staff writer and campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), where her accomplishments included making headlines for an effort that resulted in Procter & Gamble placing a moratorium on animal testing; designing and launching a campaign to reach college students; teaching students how to work with the media and organize on campuses; authoring a 100-page Guide to Campus Activism; and bringing the animal rights message into the pages of many conservative newspapers.

Her writings have been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Maxim, and more than 250 other newspapers.

Neal Levine
Director of State Campaigns and Director, MPP of Nevada

As director of state campaigns and of MPP-Nevada, Neal Levine oversees MPP’s state and local ballot initiative campaigns. He oversaw MPP’s winning 2008 ballot initiative campaigns, which legalized medical marijuana in Michigan and decriminalized low-level marijuana possession in Massachusetts (with 63% and 65% of the vote, respectively). He also managed MPP's groundbreaking campaign to tax and regulate marijuana in Nevada, which received an historic 44% of the vote in November 2006. He ran MPP’s successful medical marijuana ballot initiative campaign in Montana; the initiative passed with a record-breaking 62% of the vote. This campaign received a “Bally” award, handed out to the top progressive ballot initiatives in the country, winning in the category of “Against All Odds.”

Previously, Neal worked as MPP’s director of state policies, leading the lobbying campaigns that resulted in Vermont and Rhode Island passing MPP’s medical marijuana bills despite overtly hostile governors.

Neal started his political career as a field organizer for one of U.S. history’s most impressive political feats, playing an instrumental role in electing Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura as the governor of Minnesota. Directly following the Ventura victory, Neal was elected as a party officer and quickly ascended through the party ranks; he was elected a member of the party’s executive committee, central committee, and chair of the Minneapolis area.

He went on to work as a campaign manager for two U.S. Senate races, assistant campaign manager for a gubernatorial race, deputy campaign manager for a Minneapolis mayoral race, and campaign director of a Minneapolis city council race and has advised and volunteered on dozens of local campaigns.

Karen O'Keefe
Director of State Policies

As MPP's director of state policies, Karen O'Keefe manages MPP's grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in all 50 state legislatures.
 
Karen has worked at MPP since 2003. She played a significant role in MPP's successful medical marijuana ballot initiative in Montana in 2004, was heavily involved in passing MPP's medical marijuana bill in Rhode Island in 2006, and was the lead MPP staffer for the successful effort in 2007 to prevent the Rhode Island law from expiring. An incredible 85% of the state’s legislature voted to make the law permanent over the veto of the governor.
 
Karen also has been the primary staffer working with local grant recipients to draft and enact measures making marijuana offenses the lowest priorities in six cities in California, totalling nearly 1.5 million inhabitants.
 
Karen earned her J.D. from Loyola School of Law, New Orleans, where she received the Gillis Long Public Service award and the Crowe Scholar award. As a student attorney and research assistant, she worked on cases that included criminal defense, a living wage initiative, and a successful challenge to subjecting demonstrators to metal detectors. She is admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia. In her free time, she is active in a variety of social justice causes.

Aaron Houston
Director of Government Relations

As MPP’s director of government relations, Aaron Houston is the only full-time marijuana lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

Aaron previously served as MPP’s national field director, coordinating more than 100 nearly simultaneous protests around the country and managing MPP’s campaigns to unseat incumbent members of Congress. Aaron also led Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, MPP’s campaign to pressure the Democratic presidential candidates in 2003 and 2004 to support medical marijuana during New Hampshire’s presidential primary race. (The campaign resulted in six of the nine candidates adopting favorable positions.)

Before coming to MPP, Aaron worked as a political consultant in Denver, managing campaigns and advising various Democratic candidates. He worked as a top campaign aide to the Democratic Party’s 2002 nominee for governor and later managed a Denver City councilwoman’s bid for U.S. Congress. He concurrently served as the strategist and spokesperson for a winning statewide initiative campaign on ballot access, as well as the campaign manager for a winning candidate’s campaign for the state board of education.

Aaron also worked as the executive director and chief lobbyist for Colorado’s largest membership-based nonprofit advocacy group and spent three years as a staff member in the Colorado Senate leadership.

Aaron has appeared on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” C-SPAN, and NPR and has been quoted in The Washington Post, Washington Times, ABC News’ “The Note,” Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” and many local newspapers and radio programs.

Bruce Mirken
Communications Director

As MPP’s communications director, Bruce Mirken oversees MPP’s media strategy and serves as the organization’s primary spokesperson. He has appeared on dozens of local and national television and radio broadcasts and has been quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and hundreds of other publications. His op-eds and commentaries for MPP have appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, San Diego Union Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AlterNet, and many other print and online news outlets.

Bruce also serves as MPP’s liaison to the scientific community and has contributed articles to Medscape General Medicine and Prevention Forum, as well as serving on the editorial board of Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy.

Before joining MPP, Bruce was a freelance journalist specializing in health and social issues, including HIV/AIDS. His news articles and op-ed columns appeared in such publications as Men’s Health, AIDS Treatment News, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Advocate. Writing about and researching issues like needle exchange and medical marijuana made Bruce increasingly skeptical of U.S. drug policies and eventually led him to become directly involved in the effort to change them.

Laura Greenback
Online Content Manager

As MPP's online content manager, Laura Greenback uses online tools to build a network of engaged activists. She manages mpp.org, oversees MPP's national e-mail alert campaigns, and champions new technologies and trends in support of MPP's goals.

Before joining MPP, Laura was the founding editor in chief of a Baltimore-based nightlife magazine, where she managed all Web content including e-mail, mobile, and social networking campaigns. She also worked as a daily news reporter.

Laura is studying interactive media in a masters program at American University. In her free time, she plays volleyball and volunteers as a mentor for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

Nydia Swaby
Director of Grants & Outreach

As the director of grants and outreach, Nydia Swaby manages MPP’s grants program, which funds projects that foster measurable changes in marijuana policy.

Nydia also oversees the organization’s work to leverage the credibility and popularity of celebrities and prominent figures to further MPP’s mission and is especially focused on recruiting minorities to highlight the racial undertones of the war on marijuana users. She coordinates MPP’s major special events, including MPP’s annual party at the Playboy Mansion and an activist training workshop for the top marijuana policy reform activists in the U.S.

Nydia started at MPP as the grants and hiring coordinator, was promoted to assistant manager of grants and VIP outreach, and was then promoted to her current position.

Salem Pearce
Director of Membership

Salem Pearce is the director of membership for MPP, where she leads the department responsible for raising millions of dollars each year in individual contributions and foundation grants. Salem writes almost all of MPP’s communications with its members and oversees all revenue-raising programs.

Before joining MPP, Salem taught Latin for three years at a girls’ boarding school.

Salem volunteers for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center as a hotline counselor and hospital advocate and serves on its board as volunteer liaison.

Eric Smith
Director of IT

As MPP’s IT Director, Eric Smith oversees all of MPP’s technology needs, including data management and MPP’s 25,000-page Web site. He specializes in helping MPP maximize the use of technology to amplify its campaigns and staff efficiency, and his expertise has attracted top-notch IT professionals to MPP.

Eric spent 15 years working in IT for the University of Minnesota, where he coordinated networks and systems administration, trained faculty and staff, and was involved with Web design, research, and a variety of scientific publications. His graphics and photography have appeared on multiple journal covers.