The Autoimmune Registry hosts a monthly webinar to bring together patient advocacy groups related to autoimmune diseases. This month, we have invited Kasey Minnis from the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, who will discuss the history of disability in America, how disability is currently defined, and why it's important for the autoimmune community to align with and participate in the disability rights movement.
Details: Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, from 12-1 pm Eastern via Zoom
Agenda:
12 - 12:05 pm: Convene
12:05 - 12:10 pm: Introductions
12:10 - 12:40 pm: Coming Out of the Shadows: Disability Awareness in the Modern Era
12:40 - 1 pm: Q&A
Kasey Minnis
Executive Director
Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
Kasey Minnis is the Executive Director over communications, administration, and campaign fundraising. After joining the Foundation in 1993, she served as director of Information Technology, Director of Operations and HR, and finally Director of Communications. She has been the editor-in-chief of MS Focus Magazine since 1996, and the Foundation’s chief health educator. She is the primary architect of the Foundation’s databases for donor relations and client service delivery, a task which combined an understanding of programming and technology with deep and expansive knowledge of the inner workings of all the Foundation’s activities.
During her long career with MS Focus, Kasey has been in demand as a writer and speaker for many organizations inside and outside the MS space. She has given presentations on advocacy or nonprofit management to the Bladder Health Alliance, the United Nations Association (whose local chapter declared her their Advocate of the Year for 2012), the Blackbaud Users Group, the Humane Society, Boys and Girls Club, and other organizations. She has written articles about MS for USA Today, the Spasticity Alliance, The Mighty, and ShareCare. Kasey has been asked to sit on advisory panels for pharmaceutical partners, Facebook (now Meta), and the MS Coalition, and has served as the chair of the MS Coalition’s Communications Committee since its inception. Also in her role as media liaison for the Foundation, Kasey works with such outlets as WebMD, Everyday Health, and Healthline.
She has participated in the planning and execution of scientific research on the effects of MS. She has co-authored studies on perception of MS care among diverse populations and patient-provider interactions regarding treatment. She also designed the surveys that provide our internal success metrics.
As a chronically ill and dynamically disabled woman, Kasey is passionate about disability advocacy, and empowering health education for the chronically ill.