Advisory Council

Al Gustafson is the board chair of the Swifty Foundation, a non-profit public charity funding pediatric brain cancer research. Swifty Foundation was started by his son, Michael, who passed away from Medulloblastoma in 2013. It has since granted more than 4 million dollars to research and advocacy, the majority of which has been invested in increasing post-mortem collection. He serves on the advisory council of the Children’s Brain Tumor Network and CBTN/PNOC’s medulloblastoma working group. Al has spent much of his career working for non-profit organizations. He and his wife live in Woodridge, IL and they have two adult children.

Patti Gustafson is the Executive Director of the Swifty Foundation, working alongside her husband, Al as they work to make their son, Michael’s Master Plan a reality. His plan was to donate his “body” to science so researchers could find a cure for other children. His Master Plan has become Swifty’s Master Plan: creating a national program for post-mortem tissue donation. Patti’s background as a first-grade teacher does not come in to play in her daily work now, but that CPA she got as an undergrad does come in handy. While raising her three children she served on the boards of the Ounce of Prevention Fund and the Gustafson Family Foundation. Patti has been married to Al since 1989 and wishes her two adult children would move closer to home!

Cindy Campbell is the founder of three nonprofit initiatives, including the Ty Louis Campbell (TLC) Foundation, the Muddy Puddles Project, and the Pret*ty Store. All of which support childhood cancer research initiatives through the TLC Foundation. In 2018, Campbell was named Program Director of the Children’s Brain Tumor Project at Weill Cornell Medicine, a research lab focused on improving outcomes for children with brain tumors. Campbell’s oldest son, Ty, was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 2 ½ years old, and he passed away just days after his fifth birthday. Her son’s cancer journey inspired her to change the course of her life and redirect her focus toward changing the paradigm for other children faced with a cancer diagnosis.

I have had the privilege of working with the Swifty Foundation since its inception as a strategic advisor to Al, Patti, and the board.  My passion and background working with non-profits, foundations, and corporations has been focused primarily on strategic planning and implementation. I learned the importance of serving my community early on from my parents and served non-profits in college at Notre Dame.  I began my career as a CPA and earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Strategies for Non-Profit Leadership certificate from the University of Chicago.  I am blessed with a loving husband and three sons and love being a mom. I am inspired by Swifty’s amazing team and their progress on Michael’s Master Plan and thrilled for the opportunity to help move its ambitious goals forward.  I am determined to use my strategic planning experienceto help our team focus on our strategic priorities to help achieve the vision of Swifty

Meghan Gould is the Executive Director of The Emily’s Smiles Foundation, whose focus is research for pediatric brain tumors. Meghan and her family began their involvement with The Swifty Foundation and Gift from a Child after her daughter, Emily, passed away from AT/RT weeks before her 2nd birthday, in 2016. Emily was diagnosed when she was 6 months old and was treated at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Emily’s tissue was donated to The Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) through Gift from a Child and Meghan has since been an advocate for the importance of tissue donation. She spends her professional career in institutional development and fundraising as the Director of Development & Major Gifts at Brunswick School in Greenwich Connecticut.  

Nikki is a graduate of Columbia University in behavioral neuroscience and biology. Her educational and research focus has been on the molecular underpinnings of how stress and brain tumors impact the brain. She currently works in DIPG research at Mount Sinai Hospital. Over the last several years, she has been increasingly active in patient advocacy, scientific communication, and health literacy research with foundations such as Gift from a Child. Nikki’s work focuses on helping patient families understand the basic science needed to make decisions on clinical trials and treatment decisions for their children. One of the tools developed for this purpose, Understanding Brain Tumors, is an ongoing series of lectures on the science behind pediatric brain tumors for non-scientists.

Outside of brain tumor research, she is also passionate about better accommodation and access to higher education for students with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Nikki is a current MD/Ph.D. applicant with the intent to pursue both the clinical and research aspects of pediatric neuro-oncology. Outside of the lab, her work is focused on scientific communication, helping families to understand the importance and process of clinical research.

Jennifer Mason is responsible for the day-to-day management and oversight for the research projects that are in planning and launched within the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) and Biospecimen Research Unit (BRU) in the Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This includes her role as Director of Operations for the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) and its alignment and collaboration with the Gift from a Child program. She directs and coordinates the operations, ensuring adherence to standards, improving performance, productivity and efficiency of projects.

Ginny is the The Gift from a Child Program Director. Ginny’s expertise in fundraising, social marketing and non-profit communications has been a key component in launching Gift from a Child. Ginny works directly with our Tissue Navigator Team. Ginny is an experienced business consultant, fundraiser and power networker. She is out in the pediatric cancer community building collaborative partnerships to further the work of Swifty Foundation and build strategic alliances for fueling research. Ginny is the voice of Gift from a Child at events, conferences and collaborating with our partner foundations and hospital teams. She plays an active leadership role in organizations focused on cures for pediatric cancer and serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2).

Kristine and Dave lost their youngest daughter, McKenna, to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG – a terminal upon diagnosis brain cancer) in 2011 just 6 months after her diagnosis. Having scoured the world for a viable treatment for McKenna, and finding none, they knew something had to be done to change the equation for children diagnosed with brain cancer. With the help of family and friends, they established the McKenna Claire Foundation For Pediatric Brain Cancer Research. In the almost 13 years of existence, the foundation has granted approximately 7 million dollars to cutting edge researchers in U.S. Dave left his career in the auto industry to serve as the Executive Director of MCF. Kristine continues to teach high school U.S. History, as well as serve on several pediatric brain cancer advocacy and advisory boards in addition to her duties at McKenna Claire Foundation.