SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization at the vanguard of the psychedelic movement since 1986, selected Betty Aldworth and Ismail Lourido Ali as Co-Executive Directors. Aldworth and Ali have been interim Co-Executive Directors since March 2025, following Kris Lotlikar’s transition from Executive Director to Secretary of the Board of Directors. MAPS Founder and President, Rick Doblin, will continue to guide research initiatives and international projects.
MAPS’ formalization of a Co-Executive Director structure reflects its commitment to multidisciplinary leadership and reaffirms the movement’s collective evolution toward collaboration. Together, Aldworth and Ali bring trusted relationships and decades of expertise in drug reform, policy advocacy, community engagement, and movement building that position MAPS to expand its national and global impact.
Aldworth brings extensive nonprofit experience to the role, including her leadership as former Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and current service as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Marijuana Policy Project and MPP Foundation. Ali, an attorney and drug policy expert who began at MAPS as a legal fellow in 2016 and co-founded the Psychedelic Bar Association, brings trusted relationships and deep experience in designing, building, and implementing psychedelic policy reform worldwide. They have been collaborators since 2016, and Ali was elected to chair the Board of Directors of SSDP during Aldworth’s tenure.
Under their leadership, MAPS will reinforce its core programmatic pillars of advancing research, evolving education, and changing policy — but adapt to today’s evolving landscape by building community within the movement, strengthening relationships across differences, and using its unique platform to give voice to the “big tent” MAPS has become.
This leadership transition — announced on the verge of MAPS’ 40th anniversary — positions MAPS to build on its legacy while looking toward the future. As the organization that first funded and incubated groundbreaking psychedelic research, set the groundwork for today’s successful advocacy campaigns, and helped birth the modern psychedelic ecosystem, MAPS is reflecting on its success, incorporating hard-fought lessons, and dutifully preparing for its next 40 years.
ABOUT MAPS
Founded in 1986, MAPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful use of psychedelics and marijuana. MAPS supports psychedelic and marijuana research with a focus on the people and places most impacted by trauma. MAPS incubated Lykos Therapeutics, a drug-development public benefit company, and The Zendo Project, a leader in psychedelic harm reduction. Since MAPS was founded, philanthropic donors and grantors have given more than $150 million to advance psychedelic research, change drug policy, and shape culture.
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