Naomi Long has dedicated her career to working for social justice organizations that focus on building power with marginalized communities. She was trained by the Gamaliel Foundation and hired as a community organizer for the Racine Interfaith Coalition in Wisconsin. In many regards, it was a baptism by fire, where she learned quickly how complex it can be to organize winning direct action campaigns on issues such as immigrant rights, education issues, and criminal justice reform.
Naomi shifted her energy to understanding public policy work and began her advocacy career as campaign coordinator for the D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute. There, she helped lead a campaign to win landmark legislation in Maryland for treatment-instead-of-incarceration for drug offenders. Naomi moved on to become the Field Organizer with the Drug Policy Alliance, where she was charged with mobilizing drug policy reform activists in key congressional districts. She was promoted to Director of the D.C. Metro office, a position she held for five years. During her tenure she successfully helped organize the D.C. Recovery Community Alliance, a peer-led community organization focused on outreach and advocacy around drug policy issues in the District. She also served as national coordinator for the Campaign to End AIDS, a diverse grassroots coalition of people living with HIV and AIDS and their allies.
Beginning in 2010, Naomi decided to bridge her passions for community organizing and leadership development with her sense of humor by becoming an independent consultant. She began En C. Elle Consulting, and has facilitated over one hundred trainings and strategy meetings. Naomi's growing client list includes several local and national organizations such as the Appalachia Alliance, Center for Progressive Leadership, Community Law in Action, the D.C. Jail Advocacy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance, Faces and Voices of Recovery, Project Pericles, Training for Change, and the YWCA of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her goal is to help progressive organizations build power by facilitating thoughtful leadership development and creating exciting workshop designs.
Naomi holds a B.A. in political science and urban studies from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. We are thrilled to welcome her as our Director of Campus Camp Wellstone!