Kiefer Paterson
Kiefer Paterson comes to his work as Harm Reduction Coalition’s Government Relations Manager following a decade of community organizing and direct service experience. In his role at Harm Reduction Coalition, Kiefer works to support harm reduction policy & advocacy at the federal, state, and local levels, with a special emphasis on the implementation of federal funding for syringe services programs. His work doing grassroots community organizing started in Michigan, organizing with LGBTQ groups to expand non-discrimination policies and address intimate partner violence (IPV), and continued into anti-violence, suicide prevention, and homelessness organizing with trans and queer folk in Washington D.C. This was complemented by experience working as the Client Care Coordinator & lead case manager for a D.C. based syringe service program, with a focus on the intersection of harm reduction and homelessness services delivery. He is deeply interested in the intersections of HIV, HCV, racial and economic justice, homelessness and housing instability, and LGBTQ identity, and strongly believes that service providers, community groups, and people with lived experience are key stakeholders in any truly representative policy work.