Gina Giorgio is the Director of Strategy and Development at Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), where she leads federal and state drug policy reform initiatives. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Gina works at the intersection of policy and advocacy, communications, education, and coalition-building to shift narratives and expand drug policy across the United States.
In 2021, she founded North Carolina’s first statewide psychedelic advocacy coalition, bringing together clinicians, researchers, veterans, and policy experts to expand access to evidence-based psychedelic therapies. She currently serves as an appointed member of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) Task Force on Veterans’ Health, where she contributes to statewide recommendations addressing emerging treatment options for veteran mental health. Under her leadership, this advocacy infrastructure is now expanding into South Carolina, supporting a broader regional strategy for responsible psychedelic policy reform across the Carolinas.
She earned her Master’s in Communication from Wake Forest University on a full academic scholarship where she conducted the first content analysis of psychedelic portrayals in major U.S. newspapers, examining how media narratives shape public perception and influence policy development.
