Making Good Happen While Living with Parkinson’s Disease
Virtual Conference
March 25-26, 2021
Making Good Happen While Living with Parkinson’s Disease
Speakers Showcase
Read more about our featured speakers for this virtual conference brought to you by the Medtronic Foundation.
See Speaker Agenda.
Did you miss our virtual conference?
Explore our agenda and on-demand recordings here.
Be sure to visit LiveLifeAmplified.org for additional resources and ways to get involved.
Mark Avera
Vice President, Digital, Porter Novelli
Mark Avera is a Vice President at Porter Novelli and has built a reputation of turning big ideas into actionable programs that get results. He has spent the last 15 years engaging audiences using social and digital media on behalf of global brands and organizations. He leads a team helping clients build communications and marketing campaigns to change behaviors, unite communities, protect reputation and build brands.
Brian Baehr
Founder, Baehr Challenge
Brian Baehr is the Founder of the Baehr Challenge, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness and money to fight Parkinson's. Brian founded the organization alongside his son, Matt, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s himself.
Dr. Sylvia Bartley, Phd
Senior Global Director, Medtronic Foundation
Dr. Sylvia Bartley is a Senior Global Director with the Medtronic Foundation, overseeing employee volunteer engagement, disaster relief and patient empowerment strategies. She is a passionate leader, author and recognized advocate of social change, dedicated to eliminating economic, health and education disparities.
GEMMA CARE
PRESENTER & EMCEE
Gemma Care has always had a passion for interviewing, telling stories and engaging with audiences big and small. This passion led her to work as a producer for many years, in the realms of sports television, before subsequently taking the leap into presenting, where she has worked on a variety of different events and projects. Gemma's biggest strength is her ability to tease out stories in a way that will inspire audiences and create an environment that encourages interviewees to share their most powerful and insightful experiences.
Veronica Clark
President, EPDA (European Parkinson’s Disease Association)
Veronica Clark was elected EPDA President in 2020 and has served as a Board Member since 2017. She was elected as president of the Malta Parkinson's Disease Association in 2012, a position she still holds. Veronica was born in Malta but now lives in the UK. She graduated from the University of Malta as a speech and language therapist and has a special interest in working with adult patients with acquired neurological conditions. Veronica's mother has Parkinson's and she is involved in her mother’s care on a regular basis.
Jenna Deidel
Director of Programs & Outreach,
Davis Phinney Foundation
Jenna Deidel has been a part of the Davis Phinney Foundation team since 2017. Her eclectic background includes arts education, public programming, arts and social justice work, and extensive experience in nonprofit marketing. She is passionate about connecting individuals with experiences that improve and transform their lives and creating opportunities for community connection.
Matt Eagles
Founder, ParkyLife
Head Of Patient Engagement, Havas Lynx
Matt Eagles is the Head of Patient Engagement at Havas Lynx, bringing his personal experience of living with Parkinson’s disease to this role. A self-proclaimed positivity activist, Matt highlights and connects the many diverse faces of the Parkinson’s community through his website, ParkyLife.
Dr. Terry Ellis, PT, PhD, NCS
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training
Director, Center for Neurorehabilitation,
Boston University
Terry Ellis is an Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training at Boston University. She is also the Director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation at Boston University and the Director of the American Parkinson Disease Association National Rehabilitation Resource Center. Her research focuses on investigating the impact of exercise and rehabilitation on the progression of disability in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. She has a particular interest using mobile health technology to help persons with Parkinson’s disease to engage in lifelong exercise.
Larry Gifford
National Director of Talk Radio,
Corus Entertainment
Host, When Life Gives You Parkinson’s podcast
Co-Founder, PD Avengers
Larry Gifford is the National Director of Talk Radio for Corus Entertainment in Canada. He has spent 30 years in radio as a reporter, anchor, host and manager. Larry was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's Disease in August 2017 at the age of 45 and a year later he launched the podcast "When Life Gives You Parkinson's" which details his journey with the disease as a guy in his mid-40s with a family and a career. Gifford serves as a member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation Patient Council, an ambassador for World Parkinson Congress 2022, and is co-founder of the PD Avengers.
Tara Hastings
Senior Associate Director, Patient Engagement,
Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF)
Tara Hastings works with both the Parkinson’s disease community and key stakeholders across the research and drug development landscape to ensure the patient perspective is present. She guides MJFF’s efforts to foster collaboration and provide guidance on how to meaningfully capture and include patient insights, experiences, desires, and preferences at all phases of therapeutic development, through mechanisms such as innovative technology platforms, pre-competitive consortia and education initiatives.
Emma Hine
CEO, A World With Friends
Emma Hine is the mum of three children and CEO of the charity A World With Friends, founded by her son Lewis. Having children taught Emma life was precious and amazing but having a child (Lewis) with a brain tumour taught her you should live every day like it is your last. Through A World With Friends, she has had the chance to work with thousands of incredible young people and their families. Helping reduce the isolation and loneliness suffered by disabled and sick young people is the best job in the world and one she enjoys every single day.
Lewis Hine
Founder, A World with Friends
Lewis Hine, who lives with epilepsy, knows firsthand the loneliness experienced by children with disabilities and chronic conditions. At the age of 14, Lewis founded the nonprofit A World With Friends to bring young people with chronic illnesses together to make friends, have fun, and combat the loneliness that goes hand-in-hand with missing school regularly.
Chris Jarvis
Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Realized Worth
Executive Director, RW Institute
Chris Jarvis is a Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Realized Worth, a global agency focused on the design and implementation of employee-led volunteering and giving programs. His work with companies around the world is helping to mobilize employees to make meaningful contributions in the communities where they live and work.
Mariann Johnson
Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing
Mariann Johnson is a mindfulness and wellbeing instructor with the University of Minnesota's Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. She has practiced mindfulness meditation for more than 25 years and has extensive instructor training with national and international leaders in the field.
Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer PhD, RN, FAAN
Founder & Director, University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing
Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer is the Founder and Director of the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. Medtronic Co-Founder Earl Bakken was a longtime mentor and inspiration to Dr. Kreitzer
George Manahan
CEO, The Manahan Group
George Manahan is the Chief Executive Officer of The Manahan Group with more than 30-years of experience in advertising and public relations. He founded the West Virginia Fox Trot to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Helen Matthews
Deputy CEO, Cure Parkinson’s
Helen Matthews is the Deputy CEO of Cure Parkinson’s. She has been involved with the charity since its inception and worked alongside the late charity co-founder Tom Isaacs since 2002. Helen specialises in PR, marketing, event planning and administration. Helen oversees the charity’s current research and patient initiative projects as well as the day to day operations of the charity. Helen sits on Cure Parkinson’s International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) and Research Committees.
Paul Mayhew-Archer
Parkinson’s UK
Paul Mayhew-Archer is a writer, script editor, radio producer and comedian. Since his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2011, Paul has focused on finding the funny aspects of the condition. He presented an award-winning BBC documentary, “Parkinson’s: The Funny Side” and took a one-man show, “Incurable optimist”, to the Edinburgh Fringe and on a nationwide tour. He has performed many times for 'Parkinson’s UK' and is a patron of 'Cure Parkinson’s’ for whom, in 2020, he presented a hugely successful BBC Radio 4 Appeal. In last year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours he received an MBE for services to Parkinson’s, and said “I seem to have got the award for services to myself, which is a pretty neat trick if you can pull it off.”
Gary Pauley
Founder, Get Up and Move Gym Club
Gary Pauley inspires others living with Parkinson’s disease through fitness. Beginning first as a motivational speaker, he worked with specialists including former Olympic weightlifter, Michael Cohen, to develop a fitness program that would challenge and motivate people living with chronic movement conditions.
Allison Smith, MA, LMFT Psychotherapist
Wellness Life Coach,
Author, Perky Parkie blog
Allison Smith is a licensed marriage and family therapist, wellness life coach and the blogger behind “The Perky Parkie,” where she shares her experiences living with Parkinson’s disease with a sense of humor.
Celeste Tennant
Manager, Volunteer Engagement
Parkinson’s Foundation
Celeste Tennant is the Manager of Volunteer Engagement at the Parkinson’s Foundation, the largest nonprofit dedicated to making life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. She has worked with volunteers for over seven years and it is her favorite part of her job. Celeste works from her home in Atlanta, GA serving the Parkinson’s Foundation Volunteer Network throughout the US.
Omotola Thomas
Founder, Parkinson’s Africa
Omotola Thomas is the founder of Parkinson’s Africa – an organisation dedicated to empowering Africans affected by Parkinson’s disease. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2016, at 35. Born and raised in Nigeria, she now lives in England. Omotola is a board member for the World Parkinson Coalition; a patient advocate for the International Parkinson’s Disease Genomics Consortium (IPDGC) Africa; a patients advisory group member for the Community for Research Involvement and Support for people with Parkinson’s (CRISP) at King’s Hospital; and as an ambassador for the 6th World Parkinson Congress to be held in Barcelona in 2022. She is also a founding member of PD Avengers.
Esen Tümer
Founder and CEO, Infinitech, Founder and CEO, Essential Evolutions
Esen Tümer is the founder and CEO of Essential Evolutions focusing on artificial intelligence and co-founder and CEO of InfiniTech. She has been selected as one of the Top 50 most successful women leaders among all industries across in Turkey by Forbes and Economist magazines.
We offer heartfelt gratitude to our conference speakers for sharing their stories, lending their expertise, and elevating their voices to inspire and help others live Life. Amplified. Inspired by Earl Bakken.TM
Please visit LiveLifeAmplified.org for more information on the program. For questions, contact us at RS.MedtronicFoundation@medtronic.com.