Erika Sward is the Chief Advocacy Officer of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, where she is responsible for leading the organization’s advocacy and policy, coalitions, and communications work. She has extensive experience in patient advocacy, having served as the American Lung Association’s lead lobbyist for 19 years with Congress and the executive branch on access to care, tobacco control, appropriations, and lung disease and lung health issues. This year, Sward will lead UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Women’s Brain Health Initiative.
Erika was a founding member and an original board member of the Partnership to Protect Coverage, a coalition of patient advocacy organizations committed to ensuring affordable, adequate and accessible healthcare for everyone. She is also past president of the board of directors of the Coalition for Health Funding, a membership organization that works to preserve and strengthen federal funding investments for health agencies.
Originally from Ohio, Erika received her BA in Political Science and MA in American Politics from American University. She and her husband live in Maryland with their two teenagers, cat and their pandemic rescue dog.