About Us
Learn more about our history, our Founder, Board of Directors, and Executive Team.Â
OUR HISTORY
- In 2016, Head to Speech! (HTS) was founded as a health communications initiative for Dr. Tabia Pope’s dissertation.
- In 2019, HTS was incorporated in the State of Maryland.
- In 2021 HTS became an educational, scientific and charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization!
- We address the need for Head Injury & Effects on Cognitive-Communication Skills Awareness with a concentration in sports-related concussion impacting collegiate, professional and former athletes, as well as their support systems. Â
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM
- The current educational initiatives for sports concussion and other head injuries are primarily geared towards youth sports or emphasize the expertise of the coalition of medical professionals, athletic trainers and coaches.Just focusing on youth sports and materials geared towards them is problematic because numerous current college, professional and former athletes have a history of sustaining repetitive closed head injuries while participating in competitive or recreational sports. There are developmental, learning, vocational, behavioral, and/or emotional concerns at the youth level, which can account for the number of programs geared towards them.
- At the college and professional level, the concerns are still the same however, the manifestations of health, athletic, academic, vocational and social outcomes of repetitive sports concussions are greater. College and professional athletes have a more invested interest in their abilities to play. The competition level is harder, more stress is put on them to succeed, maintain winning records and keep their scholarships and jobs for economic stability. Due to the higher financial investments there may be more challenges in raising awareness or providing clinical research and training in the areas of head injury and the effects on speech-language-hearing and cognitive-communication skills.
- The current outreach awareness campaigns do not include rehabilitation professionals, such as speech-language pathologists and audiologists or the process to obtain assessments and treatment for speech-language-hearing and cognitive-communication problems. There is currently a lack of adequate health communication tools to talk about these problems in a time-effective and efficient manner within the sports medicine and rehabilitation communities, athletic community (e.g., coaches, teammates, sports broadcasters), and community-at-large (e.g. partners, spouses, academic advisors, vocational counselors, sports management professionals and attorneys).
- After sustaining a closed head injury, college and professional athletes and those involved in their lives are unable to identify the speech-language-hearing and cognitive-communication signs and symptoms or unable to identify speech-language pathologists and audiologists as the professionals responsible for assessing and treating these problems. They may also pass off poor academic and vocational performance for other stressors, not realizing that the college and professional athletes are suffering from underlying hemorrhages, intracerebral swelling or axonal shearing, which leads to CTE, early onset dementia, attention, memory, problem-solving, organization, and social communication problems.
- Head to Speech programs increase the knowledge and attitudes towards head injury and long-term impact on cognitive-communication skills as well as, increases the inclusion and referrals of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in concussion management programs.
HEADQUARTERS
Head to Speech is a Maryland nonprofit organization and shall be operated exclusively for educational, scientific and charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.Â
OUR PURPOSE
- We operate an institution to teach and disseminate educational material including, but not limited to, material relating to neurogenic disorders, traumatic brain injury and sports concussion management, through publications, lectures, continuing education courses, media platforms, such as television, radio, podcasts or otherwise.
- We organize health communication initiatives and research exchange to increase knowledge and change attitudes and behaviors within these communities.
- We inspire and support new researchers through scholarships and fellowships.
- We build new support groups for college, professional and former athletes (aged 18 years old and older) and their support systems impacted by sports-related concussions and other head injuries.
- We maintain a comprehensive network and directory of sports medicine and rehabilitative medicine leaders and providers to provide sliding-scale and bundle services aimed primarily at educational institutions’ athletic departments and professional sports leagues with multicultural populations at high-risk of sustaining sports-related concussions and facing health disparities.
OUR ROLE
-
Head to Speech, Incorporated is the FIRST EVER nonprofit organization to focus on pre-head injury education and the impact that post-concussion syndrome has on college, professional and former athletes' speech-language, hearing and cognitive-communication outcomes.
OUR VISION
- We envision a world in which the value of audiology and
speech-language pathology services are understood and accepted by the athletic community, bridging the gap between the two communities through interprofessional education and collaborative practices that promote the overall brain health of athletes.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Head to Speech is to promote athlete brain health by closing the gap between athletics and communication sciences and disorders.
We carry this out through four pillars, which are bridge, connect, integrate, and expand.
Bridging the gap between athletics, sports, fitness, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists.
Connecting with communities for awareness, education, and training.
Integrating brain health into athletes' routines.Â
Expanding career pathways into brain health through sports and speech-language pathology.Â
OUR ANNUAL GOALS
- We aim to develop, monitor and improve upon sports concussion management initiatives from the perspective of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in the areas of policy and advocacy, preventative education, health communication and social marketing strategies, interprofessional education and collaborative practices, and evidence-based research that supports best clinical practices and trends.Â
- To annually fundraise for our programs and allocate funds towards operations, administrative salaries, contractor and speaker fees, business expenses, toolkit production and dissemination, website, online course, membership site, email marketing, and digital products platform, marketing expenses, and miscellaneous. Â
- To serve as a local, state, national, and international authority on adult neurogenic disorders, traumatic brain injury, and sports concussion management from the speech-language pathologists’ and audiologists’ perspective through peer-reviewed journals, publications, editorial contributions, advisory boards, lectures, speaking engagements, media appearances, and all forms of social media.
- To serve as the leading source of preventative education and outreach campaigns on adult neurogenic disorders, head injury, sports concussions, and the effects on cognitive-communication skills from a speech-language pathology and audiology perspective.
- To serve as a continuing education provider who develops online training and continuing education courses using the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association continuing education provider guidelines.Â
- To serve as a leading nonprofit funder of sports concussion research to transform the outlook of prevention, evaluation, treatment, and management for men and women athletes particularly from multicultural populations.
Board of Directors
2025 Board of DirectorsÂ
ABOUT DR. TABIA POPE
Media Relations and Quick Facts
SecretaryÂ
Board of DirectorÂ
About Lena Masri
TreasurerÂ
Finance Committee
Board of DirectorsÂ
About Dana Bryant
About Cedric Alexnader
External AffairsÂ
Board of DirectorsÂ
About Aaron Crawford
About Kristina Biscoe
About Glenn E. Hames
Executive Leadership
Operations & Programs
About Giselle Thelemaque