Teresa Haley

Teresa Haley is a senior policy advisor at the Foundation for Drug Policy Solution, an organization focusing on creating meaningful change through effective drug policy. Haley is also the president of the Springfield, IL branch of the NAACP, where she spearheaded the Springfield Branch NAACP Office and Education Center, and the first female president of the Illinois NAACP State Conference. At the Springfield NAACP branch, she ensured that some of the revenue from marijuana legalization went back to supporting areas most impacted by the War on Drugs. A longtime civil rights activist and public policy advocate focusing on racial justice issues, she has been involved with the NAACP for over 25 years and serves on the staff of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and on the Illinois Governor’s Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative Transition Committee and the Governor’s Commission for Environmental Justice. For her work, she was awarded the first-ever NAACP Activist of the Year Image Award in 2020, the Community Service Award from the Frontier International Club in 2020, Springfield’s First Citizens Award in 2019, the Alumni Humanitarian Award from the University of Illinois, and the Paul Harris Fellow Award – Community Service Award from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.