Engaging Partners Team

Gil, Heidi – Profile
Full Name
Heidi Gil
Role

Executive Committee, Engaging Partners Team

Core/Team Associations
Gutierrez-Parker, LuPita – Profile
Full Name
LuPita Gutierrez-Parker
Role

Executive Committee, Engaging Partners Team
Alumni, Lived Experience Panel

Bio
LuPita Gutierrez-Parker has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Now retired due to her diagnosis, Lupita served as a regional admissions advisor for Eastern Washington University for 9.5 years, following a 32-year career in social services. LuPita started to notice changes in her memory when she became more forgetful of names, dates, and basic information. Her job required frequent computer work, and she found herself experiencing increasing difficulty navigating new software, recalling standard imputing procedures, and comprehending written materials. “I am having memory problems and I don’t know why,” LuPita told her doctor. “Nothing is making sense to me.” LuPita’s physician performed cognitive testing before referring her to a neurologist. Following a neuropsychological evaluation and brain scans she was diagnosed with MCI. She confesses the immediate aftermath “was a blur.” Lupita believes the work of the Lived Experience Panel is important and providing feedback especially from representatives of diverse communities is much needed. She states, “No one person or family should go through this dreaded disease without information and support.”
Core/Team Associations
Gutis, Phil – Profile
Full Name
Phil Gutis
Role

Executive Committee, Engaging Partners Team

Bio
Phil Gutis is a columnist for Being Patient, a communications specialist, and a civil liberties, environmental, and Alzheimer’s disease advocate. Gutis was formerly a reporter at The New York Times. He served as the media relations director and then the federal communications director at the ACLU. Gutis was also the director of communications at Natural Resources Defense Council. Gutis was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s in 2015 at age 54. He served on the National Early Stage Advisory Group for the Alzheimer’s Association and currently serves on the Board of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and is a founding director of Voices of Alzheimer’s, a patient-led advocacy organization. Gutis lives in New Hope, PA, with his husband Tim, four dogs, a cat, and a turtle.
Core/Team Associations