Jennifer Gendron

In 2003—following the PH diagnosis of her oldest son Braden—Jennifer began her journey helping Canadians affected by this illness. Her determination first grew out of the lack of available resources, support, and information her own family experienced. In order to learn as much as she could about the disease and help push for progress in Canada, she became an international PH Ambassador of PHA (US). Through this, she gained the expertise and motivation to do more for the PH community in Canada and by 2005 founded the New Brunswick Pulmonary Hypertension Society (NBPHS). By 2008, Jennifer had grown close to her national PHriends and ultimately joined the Founding Board of Directors of PHA Canada. She later went on to become PHA Canada’s second part-time employee, working as Regional Coordinator until December 2013, when she stepped back into her position as a Board Director.

Jennifer’s hard work doing local outreach and raising awareness of PH has been incredibly valuable for everyone in the PH community, especially in the pediatric community. She became the first parent Chair of the Pediatric Committee in 2012 and was responsible for bringing PH families together through fundraising and community events. She worked to develop a support network for pediatric PH families at a time when there wasn’t one. Her work has provided families with hope and support throughout their PH journeys.

Despite being busy raising three boys and running her own business, Jennifer has continuously worked to drive progress for the Canadian PH community. We are eternally grateful for the support she has provided PH parents all across the country, and for her contributions to making PHA Canada the truly national association we have become.