ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CHARTER
The charge of the Advocacy Committee is as follows:
The American Brain Coalition (ABC) Advocacy Committee will recommend and review the ABC's legislative priorities to the ABC Board.
The Advocacy Committee will communicate the legislative priorities to ABC members, as well as to policymakers and their staff.
The Advocacy Committee will monitor and report back to the membership any congressional and agency activities and policy relevant to the ABC.
ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CHAIR
Leslie S. Ritter, MA
Vice President, Healthcare Access
National MS Society
ADVOCACY COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR
Laura Weidner, Esq.
Chief Advocacy & Government Relations Officer
Epilepsy Foundation
MEMBERS
Juliane Baron
Executive Director
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Katherine Bloom
Advocacy Associate
Society for Neuroscience
Nicole M. Boschi, PhD
Director, Regulatory Affairs
National MS Society
Meghan Buzby, MBA
Director of Advocacy and Volunteer Engagement
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
Michelle Dirst
Assistant Executive Director
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
Bobby Heagerty
ABC Secretary
Emeritus Director, Community Affairs & Education
Oregon Health & Sciences University Brain Institute
Adina Lasser
Public Policy Manager
Alliance for Aging Research
Patrick McCartney
ABC Treasurer
Executive Director
International Essential Tremor Foundation
Kelly McCone, MPA
Senior Congressional Affairs Manager
American Academy of Neurology
James Ramsey
Advisory Board Member
Center for BrainHealth
Meg Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Cure Alzheimer's Fund
Julie Soares
Co-Chair, Co-Treasurer, Founding Member
Cure Brain Disease
Stuart Spielman
Senior Policy Adviser and Counsel
Autism Speaks
Denver Supinger
Director of Advocacy and Government Relations
Brain Injury Association of America
Sarah Tellock
Associate Director, Federal Affairs & Alliance Development Manager
Alzheimer's Association
Wendy-Jo Toyama
Chief Executive Officer
American Epilepsy Society
Jose I Suarez, MD, FNCS, FANA, FAAN
Professor and Chief Neurosciences Critical Care
Director Precision Medicine Center of Excellence for Neurocritical Care
Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine - Baltimore, MD
Past President Neurocritical Care Society
Founding and Past Chair Neurocritical Care Research Network
Julienne Verdi
Executive Director
Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy
Brett Waters
Founder & Executive Director
Reason for Hope
Sallie Weart
Associate Director, Government Relations
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Olivia Woodrich
Policy Coordinator
Tourette Association of America
