AMITY CHANDLER BIOGRAPHY
Amity Chandler is currently the Executive Director of Drug Free Charlotte County. As the inaugural staff to this fledgling not-for-profit community anti-drug coalition, Chandler inherited a checkbook and $7,600. In a period of ten years, the organization has become of capstone of influence and prevention in the community and operates with a budget of just over $1 million dollars, $300 thousand of which includes fundraising and revenue from special projects. Success during her decade of leadership is quantified in significant and sustained reductions in youth alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use as measured by formal data collection utilized in partnership with the school district and policy change that has significantly reduced the access of alcohol to young people from retail and social sources. More qualitative nuggets of Chandler’s leadership reveal an organization rich in social capital, most respected for its leadership in all issues pertaining to youth at-risk behavior, parent engagement and youth empowerment.
During her tenure with Drug Free Charlotte County, Chandler has had the opportunity to serve on the Florida Substance Abuse and Prevention Council and contribute to the Florida Drug Control Strategy. For the past five years, she has also worked as a state and private consultant, working with communities on issues of communication planning, messaging, environmental strategies, and problem and strategy identification. As a noted trainer and speaker, Chandler is requested most by school districts and conference planners to speak on topics of social marketing, the teen brain, asset development, youth empowerment and community mobilization. Most recently, Drug Free Charlotte County is the recipient of the 2011 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Coalition of the Year Award. This award recognizes the coalition as the country’s premier coalition in the Nation for 2011 as a result of five years of proven outcomes. Recent projects by Chandler include award-winning social norms campaigns for her local school district and a statewide social marketing project Be the Wall. Each of these projects have included successful strategies to reach teens and busy parents including but not limited to social media, guerilla marketing, radio, print, and television production. Currently, Ms. Chandler is seeking her Doctorate Degree in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of South Florida (ABD, July, 2011). Most of her research during this period has been framed by social justice issues including school to prison pipelines, achievement gaps among minority students and media literacy and equity in media as a function of identify and prevention of at-risk behaviors. Northwest Alcohol Conference
