MAPS Bulletin Summer 2020: Vol. 30, No. 2
After more than 10 years at MAPS, Brad Burge, our Director of Strategic Communications, is moving on to a new chapter. Brad played a pivotal role in the cultural and scientific mainstreaming of psychedelic-assisted therapy and has been an active voice denouncing the war on drugs. Brad has been an invaluable asset in reaching new audiences with our message of healing and justice.
Brad joined MAPS in 2009 and became a full-time employee in 2011 as the sole member of the communications team. Since Brad’s arrival to MAPS, our small 8-person team has grown into a roughly 100-person international organization on the cusp of making MDMA into a medicine for PTSD.
When he first started, far fewer knew about the work we do, and many were far more skeptical about it than today. Brad created much of the foundational content we rely on today to frame the work we do while dancing a delicate line between FDA regulations, fundraising needs, and advocating for the potential benefits of non-ordinary states of consciousness.
One of Brad’s key contributions was the development of the Psychedelic Science conferences. He played a key role in MAPS’ first Psychedelic Science conference in 2010 and the following expansion of that in 2013. He was then conference director for the world’s largest psychedelic conference to date, bringing more than 3,500 people together in Oakland, California, for Psychedelic Science 2017. Many of our supporters will remember meeting him at these events.
We are so grateful that Brad shared his unique gifts with MAPS for the past decade. We are confident his words, passion, and dedication to the field will continue. We hope to honor his contribution to the cause and make him proud. Thank you, Brad. Onward and upwards!