Katie Brandt - Keynote Presenter
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Katie Brandt is a national dementia care expert, integrating fifteen years of family caregiving experience with her professional role as the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations for the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit. She is the Founder and CEO of Katie Brandt Advocacy, LLC, a consultancy that provides a platform for lived experience presentations and life science advising, bridging connections with clinicians, scientists, funders and policy makers. Katie has shared her family’s story of love, loss and resilience through print, television, academic publications, podcasts and her short film, Love Is Out There, which won runner-up at the 2016 American Academy of Neurology’s Neuro Film Festival.
Katie is known as a powerful public speaker, educator, fundraiser and advocate, with each aspect of her work aiming raise awareness, funds and hope that that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Learn more at www.KatieBrandt.org.
Presenters
Marcus Mitchell
Marcus Mitchell is past volunteer president of AARP Rhode Island. He is currently a member of the AARP Rhode Island Executive Council, Co-lead of their volunteer Speakers Bureau and serves as the AARP liaison for the City of Providence Age-Friendly Task Force. Marcus is the founder of a strategic solutions company with focus areas in crisis management, small business start-ups, continuity of operations and community issues mediation. He serves on the Miriam Hospital Board of Trustees, and on the board of directors of Grow Smart RI, the Village Common, and the RI Environmental Educators Association.
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Lisa Wasson
RN, CHPN, CMDCP
Lisa Wasson RN, CHPN, CMDCP is the Community Nurse Educator with HopeHealth. She draws on her experience as a hospice and palliative care nurse to develop educational presentations for new and existing clinicians of all disciplines.
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Meredith Sheehan
Director of Public Policy, Alzheimer’s Association RI Chapter
Meredith Sheehan is the Director of Public Policy for the Alzheimer's Association, Rhode Island Chapter. She joined the chapter in November and is responsible for the implementation of the Association state policy priorities. Meredith represents the Association before the General Assembly, relevant state agencies, community stakeholders and coalitions, and on statewide task forces and work groups. She also spearheads grassroots engagement and volunteer recruitment in support of the Association’s state and federal public policy priorities. Prior to joining the Alzheimer's Association, Meredith spent 16 years at the National MS Society in a variety of roles, most recently as Director of Healthcare Provider Engagement. She also served as the Community Programs Manager and the Manager of Programs & Advocacy. She has extensive experience in developing community-based programs for individuals and their families, facilitating healthcare provider education, healthcare access work including identifying gaps in care, and public policy.
Amber Evans
MA, LCMHC, R-DMT, CDP, BC-DEd
Amber Evans is the Vice President of Memory Care and Resident Engagement Services for LCB Senior Living. She oversees all aspects of the company’s renowned and award-winning Reflections Memory Care program, as well as their Engagement Program with their cutting edge 5 Principles for Vitality for thriving senior living. Amber received her dual master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University New England. Amber entered Senior Living as an Expressive Art Therapist working directly with individuals with various forms of dementia around supportive communication, expression and emotional support, and joined the LCB Senior Living family in 2014.
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Laurie Mantz
OTR, CDP, CADDCT
Laurie Gunter Mantz is an accomplished Occupational Therapist with over 30 years of
clinical, managerial, and educational experience. Over the last 15 years she has specialized
in dementia care with multiple internationally recognized certifications as a trainer and
care provider in Person-Centered Dementia Care. She has lectured locally, internationally
and assisted the University of Rhode Island, Johnson and Wales University, and Rhode
Island Colleges in curriculum development and training for the workforce development of
healthcare professionals. Laurie is the founder of the non-profit Rhode Island Memory
Cafes, a social and therapeutic opportunity for individuals living with dementia and their
care partners to engage with others in-person and virtually through COVID.
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Amy Parks
RN, MSN
Amy Parks is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Community College of Rhode Island as well as an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at Salve Regina University. Amy is an experienced student-centered Nurse Educator with proven teaching expertise and devotion to building up new nurses with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to excel in today's healthcare settings. Amy has top-notch clinical expertise, is a content expert, a team player and an innovator.
Kelly McCarthy
BS, BC-Ded
Kelly has been in the senior health industry for 28 years. She graduated from Emmanuel College in Boston with a B.S. in Psychology and a concentration in Gerontology Rehabilitation/Management. She is certified as a Master Trainer for the Rhode Island Alzheimer’s Association and is responsible for contributing to the development of the Rhode Island 2010 Train the Trainer Memory Care 12 hour State recognized training program for caregivers. Kelly holds certificates in: Alzheimer’s facilitator support groups, Alzheimer’s speaker’s bureau lecturer and is a certified memory care trainer for the State of Florida.
Kristen Cusato
Alzheimer’s Association Research Champion
Kristen Cusato, Alzheimer’s Association New England Region’s Research Champion and Communications Director for the Connecticut and Rhode Island chapters. Kristen Cusato
was a journalist for more than 20 years, 11 of which were spent at News Channel 8 in
New Haven, Conn. When her best friend, her mom Linda, was diagnosed with dementia,
their lives changed. Kristen became a caregiver for her mother, and helping others going through the same situation became her passion and purpose. She now works for the Alzheimer’s Association, raising awareness of the disease, sharing care techniques and
the very latest research towards prevention, new treatments and eventually a cure.
Kathy O'Neel Webster
CDP, CFPS, BS
Kathy O'Neel Webster is the owner of ShipShape. Kathy is also a fitness enthusiast and lifelong Rhode Islander, who is passionate about helping older adults enhance their quality of life both in body and mind. Kathy empowers people throughout the aging journey, to improve their mobility and strength through balance, breath and movement practices. With over 35 years experience in the health and fitness industry, Kathy has worked with adults to maintain their quality of life, as they age, through balancing healthy lifestyles and regular movement.
Samantha McCarthy Jarvis
Originally from North Dakota, Samantha fell in love with Rhode Island’s beaches and now calls Greenville home, where she lives with her husband, Jesse, and their four children. Her firm, McCarthy Law, focuses on Estate Planning, Elder Law, Residential Real Estate, Adult Guardianships, and Life Care Planning.
Passionate about animal welfare, Samantha volunteers with local rescues in her free time, helping find homes for abused dogs and advising on legal matters.
She is a licensed attorney in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, NAELA, and serves on the boards of the Scandinavian Communities of Rhode Island and the Hope Alzheimer’s Center.
Before founding McCarthy Law, Samantha worked for an estate planning firm and a Fortune 100 trust company. She earned her J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law, recognized for her public interest legal work, and her B.A. from North Dakota State University in Public Relations & Advertising.
Her passion for Estate Planning and Elder Law began long before she became a lawyer. From seeing the struggles of her grandfather who lived with multiple sclerosis for many years, she was inspired to become involved with disability activism work during college. Through that work and her own family experience, she saw the real impact proper planning and access to resources could have for families who are hardworking and loving, but not always wealthy, and what a difference it could make both during life and after a person’s passing.
Samantha founded McCarthy Law to help families—regardless of wealth—navigate life’s challenges with compassion, empathy, and thoughtful planning. She is honored to guide her clients through both life’s best and most difficult moments.
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