Yvette Colón, PhD, BCD, LMSW – Acting Chair
Yvette holds masters and doctoral degrees in clinical social work, with experience in human resources, consumer education, Internet technology, training and supporting online communities, and bilingual psychosocial support for pain, palliative care and oncology communities. With more than 25 years of experience, she has served on non-profit boards and published and lectured on pain management, psychosocial oncology, end-of-life care, diversity, and technology-based social work services. As part of a multicultural group private practice, she provides individual and couple psychotherapy to adults dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, LGBTQQ+ issues, general life concerns, and EMDR for chronic pain. Yvette is a cancer survivor and a past caregiver for a person with chronic pain. She also served on the steering committee for The Pain Community during the early years.
Kay-Diene Robinson – Secretary & Director of Social Media
Kay-Diene Robinson, MPH, CHW was born with Sickle Cell Anemia (SS-disease), diagnosed at four months old. Throughout her life, she experienced 3-5 crises a year. However, in 2012 after a traumatic bout with bi-lateral pneumonia, which put her in a medically induced coma for twelve days, her crises began to increase to a few times a month, at times.
On September 11, 2015, she underwent an allogeneic stem cell transplant in hopes to cure her sickle cell disease. Her donor was an unrelated 8 out of 10 HLA match to herself. Twenty-eight days post engraftment, on October 9th, she was 100 percent donor while in her second medically induced coma. Two weeks before Christmas that same year, she was told that she had no sickle cells in her body.
Despite the numerous complications, she endured her quality of life has afforded her an existence that she would not change for the world. Currently, she is 3-years post-transplant, and still receiving childhood vaccines; however, she will not allow that stop her from being the change she wishes to see in the world.
Maggie Buckley, MBA, BCPA – Treasurer
Maggie has an MBA in accounting with experience in banking and business management. She has been a volunteer patient advocate for more than 20 years while living with the chronic pain condition Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Maggie has served on the board of several non-profit support organizations. She has testified at state and federal policy hearings, written articles and coached hundreds of people to self-advocate for better care. Maggie also served on the steering committee for The Pain Community during the early years.
Teresa Shaffer – Director of Outreach
Teresa is a seasoned patient advocate, a past member of the Pain Care Leadership Council, The West Virginia Pain Initiative and The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). She served on the steering committee for The Pain Community during the early years. Teresa serves as team leader for online community and social networking teams as well as a regular blogger for the online community. As a person living with pain for the last 20+ years, she understands the challenges that people with pain need to overcome.
Teresa spent over a year confined to a wheelchair due to severe pain but with the help of her family and healthcare provider she was able to get out of the wheelchair and began life again. At this point in her life she felt she was meant to do more with her new lease on life and when the opportunity to join the former non-profit organization, The American Pain Foundation (APF) PainAid Online community and to become the West Virginia State Advocate for the APF Action Network presented themselves she knew that this was her destiny. By stepping out and telling her story, she strives to empower others to take that first step to being a self-advocate and to advocate for others.