Spinal CSF Leak Foundation is thrilled to share the news that Andrea Buchanan has been hired as the Foundation’s first Executive Director. Andi has been a volunteer with the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation since 2018, and a member of the Board of Directors since 2019. Andi has over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, where in addition to being an internationally bestselling author, she has a wealth of leadership experience as a publisher, as co-founder and managing editor of a non-profit literary magazine, and co-founder and director of a marketing/publicity company. Her most recent book, The Beginning of Everything, a memoir about her experience with spinal CSF leak, was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. In her capacity with the Foundation, she has been a voice for patients via our storytelling team; a force behind marketing, awareness, and fundraising campaigns; and has worked with the Board to further the Foundation’s mission to reduce the suffering of persons affected by intracranial hypotension or spinal cerebrospinal fluid leak through research, awareness, and education.
Since its inception, the Foundation has been driven by volunteers: from its original visionary co-founder and medical advisory board chair, Dr. Connie Deline, to its current working Board of Directors, all of whom are affected by spinal CSF leak and work tirelessly to advocate for patients and raise awareness about the disorder. Now, as we enter into our seventh year, we are ready to take the next step in appointing an executive director to focus on strategic and operational responsibility for the Foundation’s programs, and execution of our mission. This will help us expand all areas of our important work, including elevating awareness, educating health professionals, supporting patients, fundraising, connecting stakeholders to increase collaboration, and supporting research. We believe Andi has the experience, dedication, drive, and skills needed to excel in this position, as we have seen her prove that to us over and over.
We welcome Andi as Executive Director and look forward to continuing our work together to serve the Foundation and its community.