Shoreline man honored as 2016 Advocate of the Year by the National Brain Tumor Society

Matt Hanson honored by
National Brain Tumor Society

Shoreline resident Matt Hanson has endured two of his loved ones diagnosed, separately, with two of the eight deadliest cancers. 

Matt has turned this burden into, now, an award-winning dedicated to cancer advocacy.

On November 11th, Matt will be honored with the 2016 Advocate of the Year Award at the National Brain Tumor Society’s (NBTS) National Gray Gala in Boston, Massachusetts.

NBTS is the largest patient advocacy and research funding nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to the brain tumor / brain cancer cause.

Its Public Policy Advocacy Program includes more than 30,000 volunteer advocates and Matt was chosen from the entire lot for this inaugural honor.

Yet, before he shone as a brain tumor advocate, Matt honed his advocacy chops in the pancreatic cancer community.

Then, Matt’s brother-in-law was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in 2014 – the most common and deadliest brain cancer, with a survival rate of less than 10%. Matt immediately found NBTS and attended our Head to the Hill Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. in May of 2014, while his brother-in-law was very sick. He lost him two months later. He soon became more deeply involved in our Public Policy Advocacy program year-round, eventually becoming the volunteer State Lead Advocate for Washington.

In this role, Matt meets with local hospital staff, connects with other local and national volunteers, recruits new brain tumor advocates from Washington (and has even recruited advocates from Hawaii), and advocates for NBTS with his own members of Congress and with Congressmen and women throughout the states. He is a highly involved advocate who is always looking for new ways to connect, advocate, and do well for the organization. Matt also personally requests that May be proclaimed Brain Tumor Awareness month in the State of Washington each year.

For this year’s Head to the Hill, his goal was to make sure every congressional member in the state of Washington received a visit from NBTS. Aside from his scheduled meetings, he facilitated 10 offices to receive our information folder - considering the vast size of Capitol Hill, it was a huge feat!