Ambassador Spotlight: Dede Norungolo

Before sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car crash in 1999, Dede Norungolo was a nonprofit executive with a background in marketing and journalism. As she adjusted to life post-injury, she relied on that journalistic experience to make sense of her new reality.

“I looked at it like, ‘I need to understand the who, what, when, where, and why this is happening to me,’” she said. She questioned why she was unable to return to driving at night, why she couldn’t see without closing one eye or using an eyepatch, why she couldn’t remember simple things like how to open a door or brush her teeth, yet could talk about things like long-range strategic planning with a former colleague. “It was like seeing two different types of people,” she recalled.

As she continued her journey, she went back to her roots in journalism and began working for a newspaper. “It was like vocational rehab for me,” Dede explained, pointing out that while she was able to utilize her skillset to return to work, she didn’t have an advocate or caseworker to help her figure out work reentry, or how she could find her way back to working as a nonprofit executive.

Within a few years, she left her newspaper job and found herself in the position of needing to reevaluate the next steps in her journey.

“I went back to working in journalism because those were my fallback skills, but I kept thinking, ‘I really want to work with brain injury survivors. What does that mean?’” she shared.

She returned to school, ultimately earning her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling. Today, she is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor with her own private practice, where she helps individuals with a variety of disabilities.

She also became involved with the Brain Injury Association of South Carolina (BIA-SC), which led her into the field of advocacy work. It started out at the state level—writing to her legislators and asking them to support the organization—until two years ago, when she first joined the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) at Brain Injury Awareness Day in Washington, D.C. “Now I’m like a dog with a bone,” she said.

Dede has since participated in affiliate conferences and attended BIAA’s 2025 National Brain Injury Conference and Awareness Day, where she spoke with associates of elected officials about the importance of the TBI Reauthorization Act. Because of these opportunities, Dede has become more fully engaged at the local level, contacting her representatives and setting up meetings to promote collaboration.

Dede has also become a member of the inaugural class of BIAA’s Advocacy and Awareness Ambassadors program, a training and engagement program for advocates who want to elevate their advocacy and public awareness efforts.

The Importance of Brain Injury Advocacy

Brain injury advocacy and awareness are important to Dede because she understands firsthand the gaps in services and systems extended to brain injury survivors, who often face chronic mental and physical illnesses post-injury.

As an advocate for the brain injury community, being consistent – and persistent – is key. Advocacy doesn’t end when you’ve shared your story and your meeting is done, Dede said. While meeting with legislators and their staff is an integral part of advocacy work, that shouldn’t be the last they hear from brain injury advocates. Following her meetings with her representatives, Dede continues to write emails, leave messages, and invite them to events like BIA-SC’s Walk, Run, and Roll for Brain Injury Awareness.

“Our voices are so important,” Dede noted.

As a brain injury survivor with firsthand experience of the residual effects of brain injury, Dede said she has crafted a “PSA” that she can share with elected officials and their staff as she advocates for access and support – a brief message about her brain injury journey that includes how and when her injury occurred, the permanent impact it had on her life and the lives of her parents, and the need for legislation and programs that support the brain injury community.

“Brain injury is a public health crisis. I’m living proof that without legislative leadership, too many of us remain invisible.”