Dr. Murelle G. Harrison serves as the Executive Director of the Gardere Initiative, a faith-based coalition that addresses substance use prevention and other social ills in a densely populated unincorporated area of East Baton Rouge Parish. Implementing CADCA’s strategies for community change with funds from Drug Free Communities, the Gardere Initiative has partnered with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Community Police Unit, BREC and other relevant agencies to seriously reduce substance use and violent crime in the 3.39 sq. mile area.
Dr. Harrison has served as a consultant to the Louisiana Office of Behavioral Health and the Louisiana Center for the Prevention Resources to develop the Louisiana prevention workforce through trainings and preparing Prevention Specialists in Training for the IC&RC Prevention Specialist Examination.
At the State level, Dr. Harrison co-chairs the Prevention Systems Committee, serves on the State Epidemiological Workgroup (SEW), and a Louisiana delegate to the IC&RC. She is a retired Chair of the Department of Psychology at Southern University.