Jason Stoffer
Advocacy Director & CureCast host, Unite 2 Fight Paralysis

Abstract
How do we get there? Together.

In this age of unprecedented threats to SCI science and research, the unity in community is a necessity, not a preference.  If we do not roll together with a unified, organized voice, we will certainly suffer the consequences of continued budget cuts, misprioritized research aims and being overlooked by policymakers. The sentiment is noble, but how do we make it a reality?

Drawing from his advocacy background of State and Federal Level community organizing, service with the DoD SCIRP program and hundreds of hours of podcast conversations with SCI researchers and thought leaders, Jason will identify the issues of division within our own community and offer viable solutions to work together for the progress we desperately need.  

Reflecting on two decades of steps forward and backward, Jason sees the hope of a new generation of advocates and organizations who blur the line between Care and Cure, a generation that is not driven by scarcity and competition, but by the audacity that we can improve quality of life on ALL fronts.   
 

Bio
Jason Stoffer lives in the Rockies of Northwest Montana with his wife and three children. His love of outdoor adventure led him to work and play as a mountaineer, long distance hiker, wild-land firefighter, search and rescue technician, EMT, and Law Enforcement Officer. A vehicle rollover on his commute to work resulted in a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and paraplegia. Dissatisfaction with the state of SCI recovery options set him on a path of advocacy for SCI Research. Jason has served on the peer review and programmatic panels for the DoD SCIRP.  He has helped to organize advocates at the State level to pass medical research bills for SCI to the tune of $40M and he is organizing efforts at the Federal level to defend and broaden research programs and to define research priorities to reflect the needs of the SCI community.