James E. Copple Founding Partner Expertise: Public policy, Fund development, Strategic planning, Training and facilitation, Community coalition building, Public Speaking Full Biography: James E. Copple has a long and distinguished career in education, substance abuse, and crime and violence prevention. A nationally recognized speaker and writer in this field, Mr. Copple has served as the Founding President of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington, D.C., and most recently, Director of the International Institute for Alcohol Awareness for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Over the past ten years, Mr. Copple has facilitated 14 state-wide summits on Methamphetamine Prevention and Enforcement, numerous summits on violence prevention, gun prevention, and comprehensive planning on alcohol prevention among underage youth. He has delivered major addresses in every state of the union and spoken in twelve different nations, including a major facilitation between the Israel and the Palestinian Authority on youth substance abuse and violence prevention. Mr. Copple has brokered agreements between non-profit agencies and federal funding sources to assist communities in providing services in substance abuse treatment and prevention. Most recently, Mr. Copple was the lead facilitator and mediator in a project with the King County Sheriff’s Office of Washington State on the relationship between law enforcement and culturally diverse populations of the region.

Since September 11, 2001, Mr. Copple has consulted with numerous states and school districts on planning outcomes for Homeland Security. He just completed a planning process on Homeland Security for the Northern Capitol Region Office of Homeland Security and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to determine needs and funding priorities for the most vulnerable target of terrorism, Washington, D.C. and its surrounding counties.

Mr. Copple has authored two major pieces of legislation, the Drug Free Communities Act and the Crime Free Rural State and Communities Act in the Department of Justice Reauthorization Bill. He regularly consults with states and communities on model state statutes and local ordinances related to drug abuse, gang violence, and underage drinking.

Mr. Copple has done doctoral work in education at the University of Kansas and taught history at Eastern Nazarene College, and Boston College. He has been an adjunct professor of education at the Wichita State University and was a Special Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in Wichita, Kansas. He has served as a public school teacher, building principal, and negotiator for the American Federation of Teachers. He has served on two national commissions on education reform and safe and drug-free schools.

Mr. Copple is a teacher, trainer, speaker, mediator, facilitator, policy analyst, and national figure in the field of prevention. Mr. Copple also loves sailing, reading, and spending time with his eight children and four grandchildren.