Amy Basken Email & Phone Number

In 2005, I was thrust into the world of congenital heart disease (CHD) with the birth of my youngest son. At the time, I had a fulfilling career as a clinical speech pathologist specializing in voice therapy, brain injury and swallowing. Now, my goal is to empower others to be the resounding voice for congenital heart defects; to improve the lives of those living with congenital heart defects; and to ensure that my son will live a long, healthy life.Most recently I co-founded the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association, now Conquering CHD. Our Why is simple, we exist to conquer the most common birth defect. The days following Nicholas' birth were traumatic - we shuffled between three hospitals, Nicholas experienced his helicopter and I handed my son to a heart surgeon - all before he was a full three days old. While Nicholas did remarkably well, I was devastated watching the suffering of other families as they endured months in the hospital, or even the worst nightmare - losing their baby. Yet I had known nothing about CHD before Nicholas was born - nothing about the most common birth defect. I sought out to change that - channeling all of my traumatic energy to ensure that other parents didn't have to endure what we did. Even though 1 out of 100 children born will have a CHD, there is not an equitable level of advocacy, education and research. This is why we exist.In May of 2022 my oldest experienced a traumatic brain injury. I resigned my role at Conquering CHD, transitioning to the Board so I could focus my attention advocating for my son. I returned to my role as Executive Director in February 2023 after his miraculous recovery.In fall of 2023 I closed the loop of my career moving from patient advocacy to eliminating barriers of social determinants of health.

Listed skills include Public Policy, Nonprofits, Program Development, Community Outreach, and 45 others.