RADD California Coalition leadership honors The Honda Center for hosting and fully underwriting an all-day RADD Transformation Session for over 100 attendees from San Diego to Sacramento. (l to r) Mike Brewer, RADD Hospitality Committee Chair; Erin Meluso, RADD President and RADD Cal Coalition Co-Chair; JoAnn Armstrong, Honda Center; Jacob Appelsmith, California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Director, and RADD Cal Coalition Co-Chair, Marian Novak, Director of the RADD Cal Coalition.
RADD California Coalition
In 2005, the RADD CALIFORNIA COALITION (RCC) was formed to engage business, media, hospitality, campus, law enforcement and government leaders in a statewide effort to utilize marketing and environmental strategies to reduce DUI related deaths and injuries among 18 – 34 year olds on California’s roads.
Three action domains – Music Marketing, Campus/Base Partners and Serving Establishments -further RADD’s message of “have fun, be safe, plan ahead” by using a DD, Uber, Lyft or taxi. Members include 57 college campuses with a combined population of 1,400,000 students, three (3) Southern California USMC bases with a focus on young Marines ages 18-22, plus 500 bars and restaurants statewide. RADD works with college staff and student peer educators to provide training for each campus, staffing assistance for RADD campus events, and collateral materials for campus and hospitality venue distribution. The program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA/USDOT). Serving as California’s hospitality coalition, the RCC is co-chaired by RADD President Erin Dugan Meluso and California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Jacob Appelsmith.
The Coalition’s newest addition is a Hospitality Committee founded in late 2018 to to provide private sector support and resources to expand RADD’s community work at events, music festivals, and big venues. Founding Members are: Taylor Amerman (Brown-Forman); Jacob Appelsmith (ABC / RCC Co-chair); Mike Brewer (Cal ABC Consulting); Jot Conde (CRA); Victoria Horton (CBBD); Jim Lange (SDSU/RADD); Tom McCormick (CCBA); Erin Meluso (RADD / RCC Co-chair); Donnica Hawes-Saunders (Heineken); Stephenie Shah (Diageo), Diane Wagner (MillerCoors); Michael Walker (Constellation Brands).
RADD®, producer of the iconic Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk, celebrity DUI-prevention campaign with USDOT and Ad Council, was incorporated in 1986 as a 501 (c3) nonprofit. A proud two-time recipient of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s prestigious Public Service Award, RADD is also a Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and World Health Organization (WHO) honoree.
The program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA/USDOT). Serving as California’s hospitality coalition, the RCC is co-chaired by RADD President Erin Dugan Meluso and California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Director Jacob Appelsmith. ABC serves as RADD’s fiduciary agent for the OTS Grant that supports RADD’s campus and community work throughout the state. ABC and RADD share two key mission goals: (1) reducing incidences of impaired driving among ages 18-34, and (2) fostering the voluntary practice of Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) practices among ABC-licensed establishments.
For more information, please contact Marian Novak, RADD Cal Coalition Manager at
marian@radd.org or RADD President Erin Meluso at erin.meluso@radd.org
