Announcing the 2026 Social Health Award Winners!
The Social Health Awards celebrate the awe-inspiring and relentless work of patients and caregivers sharing their journeys online. This year's winners are inspirational, and their tireless advocacy efforts deserve to be recognized and honored. Empowering other patients and caregivers is a cause worth celebrating!
Our judges had the incredibly difficult job of selecting the winners from a so many remarkable Health Leaders. The initial entries were first narrowed down to 50 finalists by a group of dedicated Health Leaders and industry experts. Then, those finalists were assigned weighted scores to determine the Social Health Award winners.
Now, we're thrilled to present the 2026 Social Health Award Winners!
Advocacy Trailblazer
Kay Matthews
Kay Matthews is a nationally recognized maternal mental health advocate, speaker, author, community health worker, and the Founder and Executive Director of The Shades of Blue Project. She founded the organization in 2013 following the stillbirth of her daughter, Troya Simone, and her own experience navigating grief and undiagnosed postpartum depression. What began as personal pain became a powerful movement dedicated to improving maternal mental health outcomes for Black and Brown mothers, birthing people, and families.
Kay created the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method Training, a compassion-centered model designed specifically to support women of color and communities that are too often overlooked in maternal mental health care. The training can be implemented by doulas, midwives, clinicians, community health workers, peer supporters, and those facilitating support groups. Through I.N.S.P.I.R.E., Kay equips providers and community leaders with tools to offer culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and compassionate support to mothers and birthing people before, during, and after childbirth.
As a fierce advocate for Black birthing people across the world, Kay has worked on and supported key pieces of legislation aimed at improving maternal health, mental health, and birth outcomes. Her advocacy has included work connected to the 2020 and 2021 Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, the MOMS Matter Act, the Into the Light for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Act, the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act, and, most recently, policy advocacy around the Newborn Essentials Support Toolkit Act, also known as the NEST Act.
Kay holds an associate degree in Early Child Care Education and is a licensed community health worker. She shares everyday life with her husband, Troy, and their miracle pup, Duke.
Best Team
HeartLife
HeartLife is one of North America’s leading patient-led heart disease charities. Our mission is to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease, empower patients, families, and caregivers through education and support, and advocate for better, more equitable care. We are a patient-led charity that engages, educates, and empowers people living with heart disease, improving their quality of life.
Caregiving Champion
Jillian Arnold
Jillian is a rare disease caregiver, podcast host, children's book author, speaker, andmadvocate whose life was forever changed when two of her children were diagnosed with Acid Sphingomyelinase Deficiency (ASMD), a rare and life-limiting genetic disease.
As a full-time medical mom, Jillian uses her platform to bring visibility to the realities of caregiving, disability, and rare disease parenting. Through her podcast, Confessions of a Rare Disease Mama, she shares honest conversations about grief, resilience, advocacy, and hope, helping caregivers feel less alone in their journeys.
In addition to hosting her podcast, Jillian serves on multiple patient and family advisory committees, speaks at conferences and industry events, and works to bridge the gap between families, healthcare providers, researchers, and the biotech community. She is also the author of the children's book Soaring Together, which promotes inclusion and helps children understand disabilities and differences through a compassionate lens.
Through storytelling, advocacy, and community building, Jillian is committed to amplifying caregiver voices, advancing rare disease awareness, and reminding families that even in the most challenging circumstances, connection, purpose, and joy are still possible.
Community Cultivator
Courtney Whitney
Courtney Whitney is the founder of Sjogren’s Girls Guide, an online community dedicated to supporting, educating, and empowering people living with Sjögren’s disease. After spending nearly three decades searching for answers before finally receiving her own diagnosis, she realized how isolating and overwhelming life with a chronic illness can
be.
Through Sjogren’s Girls Guide, she shares evidence-based education, personal experiences, patient resources, and honest conversations about the realities of living with Sjögren’s. Her goal is to help patients feel seen, validated, and better equipped to advocate for themselves while creating a supportive space where no one has to navigate this disease alone.
Outside of advocacy, she works full-time in aerospace, is a wife and mother of two, and understand firsthand the challenges of balancing chronic illness with everyday life. She is passionate about bridging the gap between patients and healthcare professionals and helping raise awareness of a disease that remains widely misunderstood and
under-diagnosed.
Creative Contributor
Cheryl Marker
As someone living with multiple chronic illnesses and as a melanoma survivor, Cheryl uses her platform to share the real life challenges of navigating chronic pain, invisible illness, skin cancer, and the healthcare system.
Through art, storytelling, education, and advocacy, she aims to raise awareness, help others feel less alone, encourage self advocacy, promote early detection, and push for more compassionate, patient-centered care.
Healthcare Collaborator
Valen Keefer
Valen Keefer is an internationally recognized, award-winning patient advocacy leader, health educator, and strategic consultant who has transformed a lifetime of health challenges into more than two decades of purpose-driven work. She champions the needs of the kidney disease, transplant, and chronic illness communities with passion and purpose.
Diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) at age 10—a rare, inherited condition that has affected six generations of her family—she endured years of hospitalizations, dialysis, and critical illness before receiving a kidney transplant from a living donor at 19.
In her 30s, PKD impacted her liver, leading to a second life-saving transplant—this time, a precious gift from a deceased donor and their loving family. Now 23 years post-kidney transplant and 7 years post-liver transplant, Valen is well known and respected for amplifying the patient voice across healthcare, research, and policy.
She collaborates with life sciences companies, healthcare professionals, executive steering committees, and advisory boards to improve patient-centered care and bridge the gap between lived experience and clinical innovation. Through international speaking engagements, industry partnerships, narrative medicine video projects, and her podcast
Unpacking the Gift of Life, Valen educates and empowers both patients and professionals, fostering greater insight, awareness, and impact across the healthcare ecosystem.
Lifetime Achievement
Racquel Dozier
Racquel H. Dozier was diagnosed officially with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in 2004, but the onset of the disease started in 2002 when she was given a firm diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis. At the prime of her life, Racquel and her family had recently relocated to a new state with a young child, just enjoying life to the fullest. But something just wasn't right.
After several hospitalizations with what was thought to be rheumatoid arthritis and medication issues, lupus began to rear its ugly head in her body. A year and a half after her arthritis diagnosis Racquel began having issues walking, eating and functioning and became very ill and was hospitalized again. This hospitalization was a difficult one with a brush with death. While hospitalized the doctors worked earnestly to find out what was going on in
Racquel’s body.
Once diagnosed, Racquel realized that there was little to no support or access to information about lupus, so she quickly educated herself as to what sort of life changes she would need to make as well as how to treat her newfound disease. She realized that her story could touch another person who may be afraid after a lupus diagnosis. Racquel understood she could educate others about lupus and formed Lupus In Color.
Racquel is the founder of Lupus In Color, an international support group dedicated to educate, inspire, encourage and empower lupus warriors and autoimmune warriors. Professionally she worked as a social worker and teacher. Racquel is also an author, certified meditation facilitator and life coach.
Patient-Centered Pioneer
Dr. Diana Girnita
Dr. Diana Girnita is a double board-certified rheumatologist, entrepreneur, and educator who has built one of the most trusted patient-education platforms in autoimmune and rheumatic disease. With content surpassing 30 million views across social media, podcasts, and video, she has turned the everyday reality of specialty medicine into accessible, accurate, and empowering education for patients who too often navigate their diagnoses alone.
At the heart of her mission is a commitment to replacing fear and misinformation with clarity. Autoimmune and rheumatic conditions are among the most misunderstood in medicine—fertile ground for online myths, miracle cures, and dangerous advice. Dr. Girnita meets that head-on, translating complex immunology, lab testing, medications, and treatment decisions into clear, science-based guidance her audience can actually use.
Through her Youtube Channel Rheumatologist OnCall, her podcast Thriving with Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases, her social platforms, and her work as a medical reviewer affiliated with Medscape/WebMD, she consistently anchors her content in clinical evidence while speaking in a voice patients trust. What distinguishes her work is not just reach, but intent.
As the founder of Rheumatologist OnCall, Dr. Girnita pairs her educational mission with a model of medicine built on patient access, cost transparency, and long-term relationships.
Find Dr. Girnita on Instagram.
Rookie of the Year
Danielle Alstat
At the end of 2019, Danielle was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis. She has worked as a Respiratory Therapist for over 10 years serving underserved and marginalized communities. This is where Danielle witnessed first-hand disparities patients can experience in healthcare.
After being diagnosed with a few additional autoimmune diseases, Danielle became involved with advocating for patients living with PBC. She facilitates her own support group fostering an environment for safety and vulnerability for patients to share their lived experience having PBC. Danielle serves as the PBC patient representative for the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. She served on her first committee panel meeting in September 2024. She shares her story on numerous other blogs and writing outlets. She has also been invited several times to attend the International PBC Summit hosted by the PBC Foundation in Edinburgh, Scotland. Danielle also has experience working with nonprofits regarding PBC advocacy.
Danielle has found her voice through advocacy and has vowed to be a voice for the voiceless. Between her front-line experience providing direct patient care to being an auto-immune patient herself, Danielle brings a unique and insightful experience to living with primary biliary cholangitis.
Social Media Master
Kody Green
Kody Green is an individual who was diagnosed with Schizophrenia at 21 years old. He is an author, motivational speaker, and content creator with a following of over 2 million on across social media. Kody’s journey has included challenges with drug addiction, incarceration, and serious mental health struggles. To deepen his impact as an advocate and speaker, Kody trained as a peer support specialist, recovery coach, and suicide prevention specialist.
Today, he shares his personal experiences and insights on overcoming adversity, navigating mental health challenges, and rebuilding life after incarceration. Kody’s dedication to mental health advocacy, schizophrenia awareness, drug recovery, and second-chance opportunities is fueled by his own lived experiences.
Congratulations to all Social Health Award nominees, finalists, and winners!
Being a Health Leader means you’ve impacted someone’s life, and that’s the biggest win. With the help of all of you, we’re closer to changing the patient journey than ever before. Thank you for sharing your story, using your voice, and uplifting your community members. Cheers to the patient's voice!
Thank you for sharing your story, supporting others, and building community. We are so grateful to be a part of your journey.
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