LGBTQ Leadership Institute 2020: Mitchell Hooyer

Mitchell is an Iowa native raised on a cattle farm near Sioux Center, educated in Des Moines at Drake University, and is currently finishing medical school at the University of Iowa. He has one year left before entering an Emergency Medicine residency and hopes to pursue a fellowship in global health and/or addiction medicine. He is actively involved in research with Iowa’s ATV Safety Task Force and has a passion for injury prevention.

Mitchell has spent most of his free time with the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition, a non-profit based in overdose prevention & naloxone distribution, since joining as a volunteer in 2018. He’s served a variety of positions including street outreach, operating the Central Iowa hotline and delivery service, working the Cedar Rapids front desk, planning webinars, and most recently starting a student harm reduction interest group at the University of Iowa. He hopes to see harm reduction grow both in the medical field and in the LGBTQ+ community.

Outside of IHRC and school he enjoys reading, playing volleyball, thrifting, and expanding his plant collection.