On July 17th, 2017, Patricia Castillo joined CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) as the Director of the National Coalition Institute & Vice President of Training Operations. With almost 20 years of experience in the substance use prevention field, Castillo will bring coalition expertise and industry knowledge to her new position.
“We are delighted to have Ms. Castillo join the CADCA family and help engineer healthy, safe and drug-free communities,” said General Arthur T. Dean, CADCA’s Chairman and CEO. “She will be an integral part of the team and her background in coalition work will help our organization grow and provide beneficial training and resources for coalitions around the world.”
Castillo joins CADCA after three years as the Director of Influence the Choice – Drug Prevention Alliance for Youth coalition in Washington. Previously, she served as the Vice President for the Commission on Substance Abuse at United Way of Broward County in Florida. Castillo is not new to CADCA – in fact, she presented on the topic of “Healthcare Reform for Community Coalitions” at CADCA’s Mid-Year Training Institute in Nashville, Tenn. in 2012. Castillo will be returning to CADCA’s 16th Mid-Year in Atlanta, Ga., July 23 – 27 as a member of the CADCA family.
“Youth leader Brooklyn Brackett’s insightful learning from her latest blog says it all: “I’ve discovered that it’s not only important to step up to the plate yourself, but to help others get there and let others help you.” CADCA, whether it be through National Leadership Forums, Mid-Year Institutes, the three-week National Training Academy, Leaders of Prevention training, the Got Outcomes process or putting “Research into Practice,” has taught me all this and more,” said Castillo. “I am honored and grateful to be able to work with the team that has provided the excellence in training and evaluation to adults and youth leaders across the country to make their communities healthy and drug-free.”
The National Coalition Institute was created in 2001, under the Drug-Free Communities Act reauthorization. The mission of the Institute is to increase the knowledge, capacity and accountability of substance use prevention coalitions across the United States. The Institute is the primary vehicle for delivering training, technical assistance, evaluation, research and capacity-building products and services to support coalition-specific substance use prevention and policy development.
