2012 Hope Awards

Barbara Eck Founders Award
This national award is presented annually to an individual or group who has demonstrated leadership in the field of infertility or infertility resolution.

Lindsay Nohr Beck

Lindsay Nohr Beck currently serves as a Cancer & Fertility Advisor for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG) where she is leading a groundbreaking initiative with major insurance providers to reform healthcare benefits for cancer patients.  Ms. Beck joined LIVESTRONG after the organization acquired Fertile Hope, the company that she founded to address the profound reproductive needs of cancer patients and survivors – a need she discovered after her own experience with recurrent tongue cancer in her early 20s.  Under Beck’s leadership, Fertile Hope strategically integrated two disparate medical specialties by changing the standard of care and catalyzing the establishment of a new medical discipline now called “oncofertility.”  She was the visionary behind many of Fertile Hope's programs, including the first-ever fertility preservation financial assistance program.   She has co-authored several papers on the subject, most notably ASCO’s Fertility Preservation Guideline, presented extensively around the world, and appeared in numerous media outlets, including the TODAY Show, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and SELF magazine.  Additionally, she is the co-author of 100 Questions& Answers About Cancer and Fertility. Beck graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Economics and is currently a MBA candidate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in San Francisco. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their three children.

The Hope Award for Achievement
Given to an individual and/or organization/corporation whose accomplishments are worthy and whose actions are socially commendable which result in a material contribution to the lives of those diagnosed with infertility.

P&G

In 2011, the P&G brand, Pampers, launched a nationwide TV commercial “For Every Little Miracle” that captured all the ways babies are born and families are built. The images included adoption, IVF, and surrogacy. You can view the commercial here. The commercial became an instant hit among the infertility community who saw themselves in this nationwide campaign by Pampers. 

Pampers has become one of the world’s most iconic brands by consistently living its purpose to care for all babies’ happy, healthy development. Our success is due to the passion, expertise and innovation that began more than 50 years ago. Pampers is now serving over 25 million babies in more than 100 countries making it Procter & Gamble’s largest global brand and the world’s top selling brand of baby diapers.

NPR

Beginning in 2010 and throughout 2011 and 2012, NPR has broadcast a series of infertility related stories including “Many Women Underestimate Fertility Clock’s Clang” and “Taming the Twin Trend from Fertility Treatments.” NPR worked with RESOLVE on many of these stories.  NPR is a thriving media organization at the forefront of digital innovation. NPR creates and distributes award-winning news, information, and music programming to a network of 959 independent stations. Through them, NPR programming reaches 26.4 million listeners every week.

Leading the efforts for these stories were Jennifer Ludden, NPR Correspondent and Marisa Peñaloza, NPR Producer. 

Jennifer Ludden is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, and covers a range of stories on family life and social issues. For the past year and a half, Ludden has reported a series of stories on the emotional, ethical, and legal challenges of modern reproductive technology. Ludden’s work can be heard on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered and
Weekend Edition.

 Marisa Peñaloza is a producer on NPR’s National Desk, covering everything from breaking news to documentary-style features, and a wide array of topics including hurricanes, education, immigration, politics, the economy and homeland security. For the past year and a half, she has co-reported and produced a series of pieces on the emotional, ethical, and legal dilemmas of reproductive technology. She also produces investigative reports, and travels across the U.S. and the world for NPR. Peñaloza's productions are among the signature pieces heard on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered and
Weekend Edition.

The Hope Award for Service
Given to an individual and/or organization/corporation whose work has either advanced RESOLVE or its mission in a significant manner.

Kelly Damron

Kelly  Damron has been a long-time RESOLVE volunteer in the Phoenix,  Arizona area. Ms. Damron’s efforts have brought RESOLVE’s mission to her community. She has served as a volunteer leader in Arizona, including offering support through a local peer support group, coordinating educational events, leading and organizing three Walk of Hope events for RESOLVE, and has been instrumental in fighting anti-family legislation in Arizona. She shared her personal experience with and extensive research in the areas of infertility, premature babies, and pregnancy-related depression in her book Tiny Toes: A Couple’s Journey Through Infertility, Prematurity, and Depression.

Kelly Damron, CPA, MBA, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband and twin daughters. She is an adjunct faculty at Grand Canyon University and Keller Graduate School of Management where she teaches accounting courses. She received her dual MBA and MSIM degrees in 2001 from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and is a member of the Arizona Society of CPAs (ASCPA) as well as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In 2010 she was the recipient of the ASCPA Public Service Award.

The Hope Award for Advocacy
Given to an individual and/or organization/corporation whose work has raised public awareness, advanced a legislative agenda, or prompted change for the benefit of those diagnosed with infertility.

Eli Reshef, MD

Eli Reshef, MD is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist who is politically active in women’s issues in Oklahoma. He serves as medical director of Bennett Fertility Institute in Oklahoma City and clinical associate professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He also serves on the Executive Council of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) and on the board of directors of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. Dr. Reshef spoke openly about the dangers of Personhood in 2011 and 2012 and was a key medical voice in the opposition to Personhood bills in the Oklahoma legislature.  Dr. Reshef was also instrumental in defeating a bill in 2010 that would have banned compensation to egg donors in Oklahoma.  

Atlee Breland

Atlee Breland, a former infertility patient in Mississippi, founded “Parents Against Personhood” when a Personhood ballot initiative threatened her home state.   Since then Ms. Breland has remained a steadfast opponent of Personhood in other states and has activated many other “IVF Moms” to fight Personhood. She was active in Personhood fights in Oklahoma and Alabama and has helped track Personhood in every state it has been introduced. 

Ms. Breland lives in the Jackson, Mississippi are with her husband, twin daughters, and son. When she is not busy fighting Personhood and protecting the rights of people with infertility, she is a part-time programmer. She describes herself as “just an ordinary mother, who wants to make sure that every couple facing infertility has the same options that I did.”

Redbook’s Truth About Trying Campaign

In 2011, Redbook Magazine launched the “Truth about Trying” campaign, a public awareness initiative to get women talking about the disease of infertility. The campaign launched in late October with celebrities and everyday women sharing their “truths about trying to conceive.” Redbook delivered the message to their vast readership that “It's not always easy to get pregnant, and there's no shame in that.”

The November issue of Redbook featured an article “The Invisible Pain of Infertility” that including information about infertility and stories from RESOLVE constituents and staff. The campaign continued on with a Facebook chat during National Infertility Awareness Week® in April 2012. This ongoing campaign continues to be an important effort that will change the conversation about infertility. You can view the ongoing campaign here.

The Hope Award for Best Blog
The Hope Awrd for Best Blog is given to a blog written by someone who is living with infertility and whose blog posts raise awareness about what life is like when you’re faced with infertility. 

“Ready to be a Mom”

After three years of infertility struggles including IVF, miscarriage, and many negative pregnancy tests, Holly Gregg and her husband Chad, became parents through a frozen embryo transfer. Ms. Gregg began her blog, “Ready to be a Mom” in order to work through the pain and difficulties of her journey toward motherhood, and in doing so found an incredible community of support and advocacy to which she is honored to contribute. She continues to blog on issues facing the infertility community as well as her own personal experiences with parenting after infertility. Formerly working in the field of victim's rights, she is currently preparing for a Master's degree in the field of sociology in hopes to expand research, education and advocacy on the issues of involuntary childlessness and infertility. Gregg, her husband Chad, and their daughter Eliana live in Orange County, California.   

To learn more about these awards, click here.
Find out who has previously received a Hope Award here.