FentCheck Founders Named Fast Company's 'Most Creative People in Business 2022' for Fentanyl Overdose Harm Reduction

Fast Company today announced its 14th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business, recognizing FentCheck founders Alison Heller and Dean Shold for their impact on reducing accidental fentanyl overdoses in the United States.

Each year, Fast Company honors individuals making a cultural impact via bold achievements that have never been accomplished before in their chosen fields. These influential and diverse engineers, executives, filmmakers, activists, designers, research scientists, and founders, among others, are leading with creativity during one of the most challenging times in history.

"We're honored that Fast Company has chosen to recognize FentCheck's innovative work in harm reduction," said FentCheck co-founder Alison Heller. "FentCheck takes a compassionate and creative approach, inspired by the AIDS activists who put condoms in bathrooms at bars and clubs in the 80s. The abstinence-only approach never worked for sex, and it doesn't work for substance use. Our mission is to get fentanyl test strips and other life-saving resources into as many venues as possible, and this award will help us reach more people." 

"There are a lot of misconceptions about people who use drugs," said FentCheck co-founder Dean Shold. "But at the end of the day, they come from all types of backgrounds. They're cooks, bankers, servers, doctors, students, office workers, first responders, you name it. Fentanyl doesn't give people second chances, but FentCheck does. Our goal is to destigmatize the resources that are saving lives and make them accessible." 

Since its founding in 2019, FentCheck has distributed over 1,500 fentanyl test strips every week to over 50 venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Portland, and Reno. In addition to this important work, FentCheck makes Narcan and Narcan training available to staff at venues around the U.S., and frequently works with legislators to advocate for statewide legislation supporting harm reduction, thus reducing fentanyl overdose deaths in their congressional districts. FentCheck is also a partner of the harm reduction program at the University of California, Berkeley. 

About FentCheck

FentCheck's mission is to decrease the overwhelming number of accidental fentanyl overdoses by providing life-saving resources like Fentanyl Test Strips and Narcan within the community. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. FentCheck can be found online at www.FentCheck.org.