Roberta Massender

Roberta Massender became involved with the pulmonary hypertension community when her niece Nicole Harrison was diagnosed with PAH associated with lupus in November 1998. Roberta helped Nicole to manage her illness and learned what living with PH was like for her niece. She saw Nicole give up a job in Switzerland because of her PH, adapt to life on IV treatment (intravenous epoprostenol, Flolan), and experience numerous hospital admissions for Hickman catheter insertions and infections. Roberta also saw that someone with PH could live a rewarding life, as Nicole graduated with honours from business college, took a new job, and fell in love.

Roberta and Nicole worked closely with PHA Canada Eternal PHriend Elizabeth McCall, who founded the BC Pulmonary Hypertension Society (BCPHS) in 2001 and was a founding member of PHA Canada in 2008. Together with other volunteers, they worked to support the PH community and raise awareness of this rare disease in BC and beyond. Nicole lost her fight with PH in March 2006. In 2009, Roberta joined the BCPHS’s Board of Directors and served as their President until the organization was dissolved in 2018.

During this time, Roberta also joined PHA Canada’s Board of Directors, serving on several committees and in the role of Vice-Chair from 2013 to 2019 and Chair from 2019 to 2020. Roberta came from a professional background in the financial services sector. She used her skills to help strengthen PHA Canada’s financial and operational procedures so that the young organization could function effectively and grow sustainably. She played an instrumental role in helping PHA Canada gain accreditation through the Imagine Canada Standards Program in 2015, hire its first Executive Director in 2016, and adapt to the pandemic in 2020.

Roberta’s commitment to organizational excellence matched her unwavering commitment to the PH community. Roberta always did everything she could to ensure that PHA Canada’s staff had everything they needed to accomplish their work, including her time and energy. No matter her title or position, she never shied away from whatever work needed to be done—whether it was to stuff envelopes, find a conference venue, or plan a staff appreciation event. Roberta’s contributions to growing PHA Canada to serve the PH community better continue to echo to this day.