Dr. Mark Long is the Director of The Upswing Fund for Adolescent Mental Health. In this role, he oversees efforts and endeavors to bring visibility to the mental health and well-being of youth of color and/or LGBTQ+ youth. His team works to address national gaps in adolescent mental healthcare and access. The Upswing Fund aims to create a catalytic coalition of diverse philanthropists united to strengthen culturally responsive approaches to care in communities across the country.
Dr. Long’s career to date has focused on work in social justice, social services, student affairs, and advocacy. He most recently served as Program Director at a South-Central Wisconsin community-based organization committed to equity and quality of life for LGBTQ+ people. Such focuses included community building, mental health, peer support, racial justice, and community events. In his role, he oversaw core programmatic activities and managed crisis management, peer counseling, homelessness prevention, financial assistance, and much more. Such programs included AODA, older adults, transgender support and LGBTQ+ homelessness prevention.
Dr. Long received his Doctorate in Social Work from Capella University in 2022. His capstone focused on developing an LGBTQ+ cultural resource guide for social workers and mental health professionals that practice in rural communities. The goal was to find better ways to assist social workers in practice with LGBTQ+ youth and adults due to the lack of mental health professionals and resources in rural communities of the Midwest.
Dr. Long received his Bachelor of Social Work/Human Services from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2014 and their Master of Social Work, with a specialization in Leadership and Development Social Services, from Loyola University Chicago in 2017. His work will be informed by firsthand lived experience of surviving trauma/abuse, his facilitation of cultural competency training, his work as a family case manager, a trauma-informed therapist, and as a student affairs professional in Milwaukee.
Dr. Long's pronouns are he/him/they/them. He resides in Wisconsin with his husband and three pets. Mark is delighted to be a part of the Upswing Team here at Panorama Global.
