Harm Reduction Org DanceSafe Ejects Denver-based Director

There was a splash of Facebook melodrama in harm-reduction and psychedelic-education circles when longtime DanceSafe executive director and Denver-area resident Mitchell Gomez posted a 3,000-plus-word screed announcing his removal by the board of directors as of Wednesday, May 28.

DanceSafe is a national drug education and harm reduction nonprofit registered in Lakewood, known for its presence at festivals and concerts where volunteers offer peer counseling along with drug education, drug testing kits, earplugs, bottled water, and condoms. The organization reported revenues of nearly $5.5 million in FY2023, and spent a near-equivalent amount, which included a $77,576 salary for Gomez for that period in his executive director role, which he's held since 2017, along with similar compensation for the two other executives listed.

Gomez's Facebook post pointed out — and Westword confirmed via its Form 990 filings — revenue for DanceSafe increased nearly 1,500% between the 2017 and 2023 filings, an impressive tenure. Gomez highlighted his accomplishments at DanceSafe along with some understandable hurt feelings, sparking some "he said/he said" social media debates.

But beyond the resultant shitposting in the comments, the future of DanceSafe matters for Coloradans, whether you're looking for a fentanyl test strip for your molly or working in the harm reduction space. Two of the six board of directors — treasurer Steven Richmond and secretary Wendy Maffle — are Denver-area residents.

DanceSafe's announcement of the change, posted the same day as Gomez's post, reads in part, "As the current board focuses on how to support DanceSafe grow into out next chapter, we identified the need for a fresh perspective among executive leadership." The message also had a paragraph honoring Gomez overseeing "significant growth and change within the harm reduction landscape."

Chief growth and impact officer Jessica Breemen, also a Denver-area Coloradan, will serve as the interim executive director while the organization recruits someone to serve in the position permanently, says Mikayla Hellwich, vice president of DanceSafe's board of directors.

Hellwich wouldn't comment on the specifics of Gomez's departure, but noted that five of the six current board members were elected last July. "Part of that is a growing and evolving vision of the organization, which is quite expansive," she says. "We're thinking about how to bring more support and resources into communities, like the ones in Denver where we already have a big footprint."

While the executive director position has yet to be advertised, and Hellwich is hesitant to say anything before it is published, she does note that DanceSafe is "looking for somebody who has helped an organization through major periods of transition, like helped organizations of our size move into their next iteration."

Hellwich also says DanceSafe is continuing to offer services where it's able, and the change in leadership won't affect that: "New leadership is just a very normal part of the process and choosing to go in a new direction with the executive director's position is a strategic move that we're hoping can bring in fresh perspective and some new expertise that we need in order to move into [our] vision and bring it into view."

Learn more about DanceSafe at dancesafe.org.