Meet Bethany "B" Rae Perryman, who joined the ACLU of Connecticut in 2024 as the team's Communications Director.
Prior to joining the ACLU of CT, Perryman was the editor and Director of Content for several newspapers in the mid-Atlantic, for which she was named one of Editor & Publisher's "Top 25 Under 35" rising stars in the news industry. She has also worked for Drug Policy Alliance, The Writer's Center, The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, and other national advocacy organizations. Perryman is a dedicated harm reductionist, as well as an award-winning academic, writer, journalist, and filmmaker. She has contributed to national activism efforts such as activating protests of draconian drug policies at the Department of Justice and organization of The Science March in Washington, D.C.
She has a B.A. in philosophy from Baylor University and an M.A. in Communication & Advocacy with a concentration in Strategic Communications from James Madison University, where her quantitative thesis on Gen Z's perceptions and attitudes about American democracy won the Graduate School Award for Civic Engagement. She recently co-authored a paper on crisis communication theory published in Public Relations Review. Her academic interests include pragmatism, systems theories, consciousness, and strategic communication.
Through advocacy in statehouses and streets, education initiatives, and supporting the ACLU of CT's litigators, Perryman prioritizes impact. She believes in creative pathways and delivering tangible results to those doing the work and the people most impacted by systemic disadvantages. Her personal interests include harm reduction in all forms, anti-racism, separation of church and state, public education, voting and civil rights, meditative practices, and a lifelong devotion to the arts.
