ADRP Webinar: "You Can Be The Difference”

ADRP Webinar: "You Can Be The Difference”

This session will discuss the difference that patient advocacy organizations like Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA) and individuals can make to ensure that African American donors support patients with sickle cell disease by donating blood. The need for blood donations is as critical now as ever, but without a readily available blood supply, sickle cell patients can experience severe pain, tissue and organ damage, acute anemia, and even strokes. Furthermore, sickle cell patients are at high risk of serious complications from coronavirus infection, and blood transfusion can be a lifesaving treatment for these patients. What is your role?

Speaker: Beverley Francis-Gibson, President/CEO, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.

Bio

Beverley Francis-Gibson previously served as the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI HC) of Howard County in Columbia, Maryland and has more than 25 years of experience serving non-profits and community foundations. 

She is on the Board of Directors of the ARM Foundation for Cell and Gene Medicine; member of the Sickle Cell Disease Medical Education and Innovation Steering Committee-Advisory Board; member of the Maryland Statewide Steering Committee on Adults Living with Sickle Cell. Francis-Gibson is currently a Board Member of the Global Patient Advocacy Advisory Board on Sickle Cell Disease; founding Board Member of the Global Alliance on Sickle Cell Disease Organizations and co-chair of the Governance Committee; a member of the Sickle Cell Disease Coalition and the Sickle Cell Steering Committee. She also serves on the National Minority Quality Forum’s Sickle Cell Disease Working Group, the SCD Patient Survey Steering Committee, oneSCD Voice Engagement Working Group, Emergency Department Sickle Cell Care Coalition, Steering Committee of the Black Women’s Health Imperative and the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Diversity Alliance and the Steering Committee of the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition, and a council member on the Sickle Cell Disease Healthcare Equity Council.  She is Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Maryland Nonprofits. She is a 2009 Leadership Premiere Graduate and previous Board member of Leadership Howard County and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.