Daniel Fitzgerald, MPH, ICPS is the Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association leading their mission efforts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Dan also serves as the Executive Director of the Chariho Youth Task Force, a substance use prevention and mental health promotion nonprofit in southern Rhode Island. Dan’s educational background is in prevention science, social marketing, nonprofit management, and public health. Dan has worked at the state, local, and national level with nonprofits and state and federal agencies.

In his role with the American Lung Association, Dan leads state public policy work related to defeating lung cancer, championing clean air for all, ensuring healthcare is adequate, accessible, and affordable, and creating a tobacco-free future. Recently, Dan was recognized for his impact in the world of tobacco control and received the C. Everette Koop Unsung Hero Award in honor of the late United States Surgeon General. In his career, Dan has served as a lead activism trainer and has traveled coast to coast delivering education to hundreds of thousands of students, educators, and medical professionals.

Dan’s connection to SADD began as a middle school student, he has served as a Chapter Advisor, a State Coordinator, State Coordinator Representative to the Board, and now serving his second term as Board Chair. In recognition of some of this work the Rhode Island General Assembly named Dan the “Advocate of the Year” while he was in high school, and as the state’s “Champion for Children and Youth” in 2018.

In his personal time, Dan loves to spend time with his husband Nick, be outside in the garden, and bake for friends and family. When Dan was a teen, he won the Martha Stewart Bake the Cake contest and worked as an event baker for several years. In addition to SADD, Dan volunteers his time with a variety of nonprofits including serving as the Vice Chair of his local YMCA, Vice Chair of Wood River Health Services, Treasurer of the Rhode Island Certification Board, and as a community advisor to Brown University School of Public Health.