2026 Keynote Lineup
NEPAC keynote sessions are designed to be practical, patient-centered, and immediately usable. You’ll hear from experienced advocates and professionals who understand the real challenges families face—and you’ll leave with tools you can apply in hospital stays, complex care situations, and everyday healthcare decisions.
Brad Schwartz, Esq.
Two decades ago, Attorney L. Bradley Schwartz survived a devastating medical error that resulted in the loss of all four limbs. In this enthusiastic presentation, Brad will explain how the amputations changed his life and inspired him to make Independent Patient Advocacy his lifetime goal.
After Mr. Schwartz tells his story, his wife and daughter will join him to share how his experience reshaped their lives and how they turned this tragedy into a mission of advocacy.
Deb Gordon, MBA
Deb is a healthcare executive and consumer advocate who helps level the playing field in healthcare and advises innovators working to improve care for everyone.
In her session, Best Practices for Starting an Advocacy Practice, she shares essential steps for launching and growing a sustainable advocacy business, including scope, pricing, client acquisition, and ethics.
Matthew Zachary
A 30-year brain cancer survivor, Matthew Zachary is the co-founder of We The Patients, a national movement channeling the growing frustration with American healthcare into collective action and civic power, and the author of We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America’s Healthcare Nightmare (Wiley, May 2026).
In his keynote, Matthew connects lived experience with systems-level insight to help attendees better understand the incentives and structures that shape delays, denials, and financial burden—and how advocates can engage more effectively for change.
2026 Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions are designed to be practical, interactive, and immediately applicable. These speakers will equip you with tools and strategies you can use in real healthcare situations—from care transitions and complex cases to building an advocacy practice that is ethical and sustainable.
Lisa Berry Blackstock
Lisa Berry Blackstock is an early, internationally recognized independent patient advocate and a Stanford graduate who founded Soul Sherpa® Healthcare Advocacy to help patients navigate complex healthcare decisions with practical support and empathy.
In her joint session, Beyond Instinct: A Practical Framework for Consistent, Powerful Advocacy, Lisa Berry Blackstock brings the P2S (Problem-to-Solution) Pathways Framework to life through real-world cases and shows how a shared advocacy methodology can strengthen client outcomes, peer collaboration, and professional credibility.
Kayoko “Ky” Corbet, RN, BCPA
Ky Corbet is the founder of Patient Advocacy & Beyond LLC and brings a rare blend of clinical nursing, healthcare informatics, and communication expertise to help untangle complex, high-stakes healthcare situations.
In her joint session, Beyond Instinct: A Practical Framework for Consistent, Powerful Advocacy, she introduces the P2S (Problem-to-Solution) Pathways Framework and shows how a shared methodology can strengthen outcomes, collaboration, and professional credibility in independent advocacy.
Maura Lessard, RN, CCM
Maura is an RN of nearly 40 years and a board-certified case manager since the early 1990s who founded Nurse Advocates in 2018 to help families navigate aging, complex health needs, and care transitions with calm and clarity.
In her session, Developing Strategies to Close Gaps in Care, she shares practical strategies to improve communication, coordination, and outcomes during healthcare transitions.
Shlomit Liberty, MS, MA, CCC-SLP, BCPA
Shlomit is a Board-Certified Independent Patient Advocate and founder of Patient Path NYC, with a clinical background in medically complex hospital care.
In her session, Patient Advocacy in Medical Complexity: Lessons from Dysphagia Case Studies, she equips attendees with transferable strategies for care coordination, collaboration, and safer discharge planning.
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Erika Warren, MBA
Erika Warren is the co-founder of Inciteful Med, an AI-powered platform that helps patients and advocates navigate complex medical decisions using scientific evidence, drawing on both a technology background and personal experience as a patient and caregiver.
In her session, At The Bedside: Strengthening Advocacy with AI, she shares a practical, responsible workflow for using AI to validate decisions, uncover care options, coordinate next steps, and advocate more effectively in complex hospital cases.
Hosted By
Teri Frykenberg
Teri Frykenberg is the founder of Nurse Advocacy Enterprises and the voice behind Nurse Advocate Entrepreneur, where she equips nurses, advocates, and healthcare professionals with the training, tools, and confidence to advocate effectively and build sustainable advocacy practices. Through her real-world experience navigating complex healthcare situations, Teri is known for bringing practical guidance, clear communication, and a patient-first approach to every room she’s in—helping people understand the system, ask better questions, and pursue better outcomes.
Kristi Davin
Kristi Davin is a fractional COO and CHRO who partners with mission-driven founders and organizations to bring structure, clarity, and momentum to their work. She specializes in organizational design, operational strategy, and people and culture, helping teams align priorities, strengthen processes, and build practical systems that support sustainable growth. Known for translating vision into clear, executable plans, Kristi brings a steady focus on the human side of the organization—believing the way people engage with a company, internally and externally, should consistently reflect its values and purpose.
