Sometimes, you have to get a little mad
to change the world.
Madvocator Educational and Healthcare Advocacy Training partners with individuals and organizations to provide programs, tools and consultation that improve outcomes, with a focus on equity, health literacy and eliminating disparities. Madvocator has been working on health, engagement and advocacy in Northern Ohio since 2015.
Our programs are rooted in research on critical thinking, adult learning principles, and psychology, with the goal of advancing the ways people think and behave.
Our Mission
To change the way people think and participate in healthcare and education
About the Executive Director
Nikki (Charisse) Montgomery, MA, MEd, GPAC is the Executive Director of Madvocator Educational and Healthcare Advocacy Training. Her experiences as an educational psychologist, a communications expert, a patient advocate, and the parent of a child with complex healthcare and educational needs led her to create Madvocator. In addition to a graduate certificate in Patient Advocacy, for which her research was focused on increasing the capacity of parents of medically fragile children, Ms. Montgomery has a master’s degree in Educational Psychology with thesis research on critical thinking and engagement for parents of children with disabilities. She served on the Board of Directors for University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and currently serves on the Global Patient and Family Advisory Board for The Beryl Institute.
Ms. Montgomery’s professional background includes teaching, corporate training, and working with children and adults with disabilities. She is involved in many local and national initiatives to improve health, eliminate disparities, and increase activation and engagement; her current affiliations and involvements include:
- Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Person and Family Engagement Network
- Editorial Board for Pediatrics®, the flagship journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (first-ever lay member)
- Executive Leadership Board, Patient Experience Policy Forum
- Board of Directors, The Superhero Project
- Patient Partner Innovation Community
- Connecting for Kids of Westlake, Ohio
- Global Patient and Family Advisory Board, The Beryl Institute
- Project coordinator, Patient Experience Policy Forum
Books and articles by Charisse (Nikki) Montgomery
Ms. Montgomery is the author of the Super Safe Kids series of books and toolkits that engage children and their families in improving safety and advocacy in the hospital, the community and the home. She is also the author of Home Care CEO: A Parent’s Guide to Managing In-Home Pediatric Nursing, and a co-author of We Dare Be Brave: African American moms and the emotional journey of raising children with disabilities, all available on Amazon.
Read features by Ms. Montgomery from Complex Child magazine
Madvocator Educational and Healthcare Advocacy Training 