Ep 13: Doing good through encounter with the MS Society
Listen to the Common Good Data Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week, we begin a new series focusing on the theme of encounter and the idea that all good social sector practice begins with and is rooted in relationship. We share three key aspects of encounter that every helping professional can integrate into their practice.
In addition, we invite Karen Mariner, Jeff Lax, and Suzanne Boyd of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to share their work supporting individuals living with MS. They discuss the challenges faced by MS patients, highlight the work they are doing to build a national network of support services, to advocate for new legislation to support the MS community, and to support cutting-edge research that will lead to a cure,
Be sure to participate in this week’s Betcha Don’t Remember to test your knowledge of the iconic 80/90s eclectic group, the Beastie Boys.
Resources and Links
Our Guests
As Vice President, MS Navigator Experience for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Karen leads a comprehensive nationwide strategy to empower people to solve everyday challenges of MS. Since joining the Society in 2001, Karen has served in a series of progressive leadership roles. Through these roles, she has leveraged her background in social services and activism to develop innovative ways at the community, state and federal level to attain resources to meet the needs of people affected by MS. Karen is passionate about cultivating and empowering diverse staff and volunteer teams to continuously respond to opportunities and challenges of health advocacy nonprofits. Karen holds a master’s degree in Social Services from Bryn Mawr College and received her bachelor’s degree from Temple University.
Jeff Lax is the current Board Chair of the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the National MS Society and has served on the Board of Trustees since 2006. Jeff began volunteering with the National MS Society in 2001 when is wife enlisted him to join the Y Xtreme Team to ride BikeMS. Since then, he and his wife have ridden 20 straight years of BikeMS rides, have met so many people living with MS, and have collectively raised nearly $200,000 to help find a cure for the disease. In addition to riding in BikeMS in the US, Jeff and his wife have also run the London Marathon on the team supporting the MS Society of the UK and will run in the Berlin Marathon with them this coming September. When he is not volunteering for the National MS Society, he is a husband, a dad, and a business leader in manufacturing and distribution companies.
Dr. Boyd is an Associate Professor of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte School of Social Work and a program faculty member in the Health Services Research Doctoral Program. She received her MSW with a specialty in Mental Health and Macro social work practice and her PhD in Social Work and Social Policy from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work and her undergraduate Psychology degree from the University of Virginia. Her research and scholarship areas focus on child, adolescent, and mental health services, with an emphasis on children in residential care, and the impact of health disparities and social determinants of health on persons living with multiple sclerosis. She is committed to using research to inform the transformation of existing health service systems to address health disparities and social determinants of health that impact persons with mental health needs and persons living with MS and as a way to give voice to their stories.
