BIAA Hosts Successful First-Ever Luminary of the Year Event

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) held our inaugural Luminary of the Year celebration on November 15, during which 250 members of the brain injury community came together to honor Marilyn Price Spivack, BIAA’s co-founder and first-ever Luminary of the Year honoree.

The event, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., raised more than $460,000 to benefit the Brain Injury Association of America’s programs, research initiatives, and advocacy efforts. It was also an opportunity for the community to celebrate Marilyn, who was described by Dr. Mel B. Glenn of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Harvard Medical School as “the most influential person in the history of brain injury rehabilitation.”

Marilyn was thrust into the brain injury world 49 years ago when her then-15-year-old daughter, Deborah Lee Price, sustained a brain injury while coming home from a skiing trip with friends. She received a phone call from a nearby hospital, during which she was told her daughter was in a coma and close to death.

“I searched the country for programs. I searched for people who could work with Debby at home. I couldn’t find anything,” Marilyn recalled. Recognizing that her daughter’s needs, as well as the needs of countless others in similar situations, could only be met by a nationwide organization dedicated to providing support for people with brain injury, decided to take matters into her own hands. Five years later, the National Head Injury Foundation – now the Brain Injury Association of America – was born.

It was truly a grassroots effort. Marilyn held meetings in her Massachusetts home, bringing together medical professionals, nursing home and rehabilitation center administrators, and family members of people living with brain injury, building a robust community that remains committed to improving the quality of life for all people affected by brain injury.

“Marilyn saw the future that her daughter might have faced, and she went out and sought to change the world,” said Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America.

In addition to celebrating Marilyn’s contributions to the brain injury community, the Luminary of the Year event recognized 20 Fundraising Champions, including top fundraiser Mark Steinhubl.

See photos from the event here.

For more information on the 2025 Luminary of the Year event, contact Paula Eichholz, senior director of development, at peichholz@biausa.org or 703-761-0750, ext. 648.

Photo caption: From left, David Storto, Senior Strategic Advisor for Tandem Solutions and TVM Capital Healthcare; Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America; Luminary of the Year honoree Marilyn Price Spivack; Dr. Greg O’Shanick, Medical Director-Emeritus of the Brain Injury Association of America and President and Medical Director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation Services; and Dr. Nathan Zasler, Founder, CEO, and Medical Director of the Concussion Care Center of Virginia, Founder and Medical Director of Tree of Life, and Emeritus Chair of the International Brain Injury Association