Staff Profile
Roger Svendsen, M.S., C.P.P. – Research Fellow
Roger is Executive Director of the Northstar Problem Gambling Alliance (NPGA). The NPGA is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness about problem gambling, promoting the widespread availability of treatment for problem gamblers and their families, and encouraging education, research and prevention. Prior to his work at the NPGA, he was Coordinator of Program Development and Training for the Minnesota Institute of Public Health. In this capacity he served as Prevention Specialist for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s Central Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT), Director of the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center, and Director of the Gambling Problems Resource Center. Roger has previously served as: Executive Director of a community drug program and halfway house; Coordinator of Health/Drug Education for the Minnesota Department of Education; Minnesota State Drug Abuse Prevention Director on the staff of Governor Al Quie; and Director of Program Development and Training for Hazelden Health Promotion Services.
Roger has been an educator for more than 40 years, teaching and coaching at the junior high, senior high, college and university levels. He has provided assistance to numerous schools, colleges and universities, religious organizations and other community organizations throughout the country. He was on the faculty of the Rutgers University Center’s Summer School for Alcohol Studies for 20 years.
Roger has authored numerous publications related to the prevention of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use problems including: People of Faith-Partners in Prevention: Engaging the Faith Community in Substance Abuse Prevention; The Student Assistance Program: How it Works; Walking the Talk: A Program for Parents about Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use and Nonuse; Alcohol: Choices and Guidelines for College Students; Minnesota DWI Manual for first time offenders; a series of four videos for youth, parents, young adults and school staff titled See It, Say It: A Six Step Process; and Alcohol and Other Drugs: A Planning Guide for Congregations. He has also authored several research reports including: Tobacco-Free School Policies: Best Practices; Promising Prevention Strategies: A Look at What Works; A Literature Review on Substance Abuse Indicators; A Retrospective Study of a College Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Program Designed to Change Social Norms and Guidelines on a College Campus; and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE): A Program Evaluation.
He has also authored several publications related to gambling: a booklet titled Gambling: Choices and Guidelines; a curriculum for youth titled Improving Your Odds: A Curriculum About Winning, Losing and Staying Out of Trouble with Gambling; a program for adults titled Table Talk: A Program for Families About Winning, Losing, and Staying Out of Trouble with Gambling; a series of four trigger videos for adults and youth titled Deal Me In: Gambling Trigger Videos, a video on intervening with problem gamblers titled What Should I Say? What Can I Do? and, a curriculum for youth titled Southeast Asian Youth Gambling Prevention Education Program.