Parkinson's Foundation Communications Team

Over one million people in the U.S. have Parkinson’s disease (PD), and nearly 90,000 are newly diagnosed each year. The Parkinson’s Foundation works to make life better for people with PD and their families. They provide expert care, research, education and more to help those with PD live well as they work toward a cure. The goal of the Communications team is to reach new audiences and communicate the Foundation’s impact within the PD community. Their powerhouse team of 11 is led by Leilani Pearl, senior vice president and chief communications officer, and Catherine Whitlock, associate vice president of online communications. Other key players include Julie Seireg, senior director of marketing; Kristy Pomes, director of content strategy; Melanie Schaffel, senior manager of digital advertising; Amanda Iburg, senior manager of digital communications; Kayleigh Stauffenger, manager of donor communications; Marissa Cruz, public relations manager; Ora Presby, senior coordinator of marketing and design; Kindred St. Germain, senior marketing coordinator; and Grace Basler, social media coordinator. In January 2022, the “Better Lives. Together.” PSA set out to achieve three goals: to reach people with PD and their families; reach new audiences, including people in rural areas or areas geographically distant from an existing Parkinson’s Foundation chapter; and break stereotypes about PD. With the PSA as a centerpiece, the 2022 Parkinson’s Awareness Month campaign theme was #FutureofPD to raise awareness about the disease and Foundation resources, while encouraging everyone to take action in impacting the future of PD. Within four months, the PSA garnered over $18.5 million in donated ad value. This included 41,568 television airings for an audience of 305,901,321, plus 23,203 radio airings with an audience of 70,819,370. April 2022 was Parkinson.org’s highest-traffic month to date, with more than 693,000 visits. The launch campaign email received a 46% open rate (OR) and a 2% clickthrough rate (CTR). Nearly $474,000 was raised through Parkinson.org and Facebook Fundraisers, representing a 39.7% YOY increase. There was a 52% increase in reach across Facebook and Instagram compared to the prior month, with more than 968,265 unique views on posts.