Jason McCarty
Mississippi Harm Reduction Initiative (Change Collective Mississippi Cohort)
Executive Director
With over two decades of community network building, Jason has become known nationally as a Mississippi expert for diversity and inclusion and is a bridge-builder activist for local, state, and federal advocacy.
As a survivor of domestic violence, substance use disorder, and a thriving member of the LGBTQ+ community, Jason is a national advocate for Mississippians living with HIV, Mississippians who have survived domestic violence, and he works daily with people who still use drugs through harm reduction methods.
Jason was the Founding Executive Director of Mississippi Capital City Pride, where he grew the organization to the largest LGBTQ+ community organization in Mississippi and sat on the White House’s Task Force for LGBTQ+ Engagement.
Jason was recognized as a “Mississippi Top 40 under 40” in 2023. He serves on the board of directors for the American Red Cross.
Jason is currently the Executive Director of the Mississippi Harm Reduction Initiative. The organization is the leader in naloxone distribution as the state's direct organization through the MS Department of Health. In 2024, the organization opened The Jack Myer's House, the first LGBTQIA+ domestic violence shelter in the state and the nation's seventh.