The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association Champion Award, formerly known as the Presidential Citation Award, is awarded to an individual or organization who has made a significant impact on hospice and palliative care through advocacy, community involvement, or practice. Nominees from all disciplines are encouraged.
Carol Gallo is the Executive Director of the Y.C. Ho/Helen & Michael Chiang Foundation. The foundation focuses on improving the quality of life for adults and children with serious illnesses. Carol is a philanthropic leader who has developed a grantmaking framework and strategy that has helped guide the Foundation’s funding decisions since 2016. This has resulted in the Foundation
expanding its grantmaking further into nursing, chaplaincy, social work, research, and pediatric palliative care. She is responsible for all aspects of running the Foundation, including grantmaking, finances, governance, human resources, marketing/communications, and administration. Gallo also serves on the Steering Committee for the Grantmakers in Aging Serious Illness/End of Life Funders Community as well as the Board of Directors for Exponent Philanthropy.
Dr. McPherson is a professor and executive director of Advanced Post-Graduate Education in Palliative Care in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore. She is the executive program director of Graduate Studies in Palliative Care at the University of Maryland Baltimore, including the Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, and Graduate Certificate. She is particularly interested in the safe and effective use of medications in patients with life-limiting illness, ranging from drug selection, deprescribing, and risk mitigation.
Amy is the senior program officer for The John A. Hartford Foundation and spearheads initiatives focused on serious illness and end-of-life care, including efforts to support palliative care. In her role, she leads the Foundation’s grants supporting key leading organizations in the palliative care and hospice field to improve their public messaging for palliative care, hospice, and advance care planning, known as MessageLab. Amy leads the National Academy of State Health Policy effort to help state governments promote access to palliative care. Amy also launched a Serious Illness and End-of-Life Funders Collaborative to engage a new generation of funders in this work. For more than a decade, she has led her Foundation’s grants supporting the Center to Advance Palliative Care, overseeing an investment of more than $6 million.
Amy has lived with stage IV cancer for more than 12 years and personally experiences the benefits of palliative – but it is important to note that she was a strong advocate for palliative care before her illness.
Amy testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging and has authored numerous pieces about her healthcare choices, palliative care, and implications for patients, practice, and policy. Her piece in Health Affairs, “Living Life in My Own Way—And Dying That Way as Well,” was among the journal’s most read.
Amy received the President’s Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the CAPC Innovation Award from the Center to Advance Palliative Care, the Presidential Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the President’s Award from the National League for Nursing for reshaping nursing education and the Civitas Award from the American Academy of Nursing for her policy and advocacy efforts.
