The U.S. Pain Foundation is pleased to announce its new Director of Communications: Scott Rogers.

Rogers joined the staff in May 2021 to oversee the organization’s websites, newsletter and email messaging, social media accounts, event marketing, news, and blog sections, as well as manage the communications strategy for the organization.

Rogers came to U.S. Pain from the University of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences where he worked as Editor, managing communications and marketing outreach for the college. Previously, he was a Content Strategist for a Chicago-based marketing agency and a Content Specialist for a life insurance and financial planning association.

A graduate of Illinois State University with a bachelor of arts in English and a minor in history, he resides in Illinois with his wife, Michelle, dog, Cassie, and big-boned cat, Gizmo.

“We are incredibly excited to have Scott join U.S. Pain,” says Nicole Hemmenway, CEO. “He brings such a unique perspective and is committed to increasing public awareness about chronic pain while helping individuals living with pain find support and resources. We hope to expand our outreach even more with him at the helm over the years. He is a great addition to our team.”

Scott took a moment to answer a few questions about joining U.S. Pain and to share a little about himself:

Do you have a personal connection to chronic pain?

While I do not have chronic pain, multiple members of my family are affected by pain. As I grew up, I watched this pain increase and, oftentimes, go untreated or be written off entirely. Before I came across the U.S. Pain Foundation, I can recall having conversations with family members, hearing about their pain and frustratedly wondering why can’t anyone do something to help?

Of course, this is not a unique story—if anything, it is all too common. I’d hazard a guess that the majority of the country knows someone affected by pain and has similarly found themselves wondering what can be done to help.

I believe the work U.S. Pain does—supporting those with chronic pain, advocacy, and raising awareness—is incredibly important and I feel privileged to play a role in spreading this message. Chronic pain is at the forefront of so much in our society, from reforming our health care system to be more inclusive and empathetic, mental health, and generally helping everyone in our society lead the lives they want.

What are your main responsibilities as Communications Director?

I do whatever needs to be done to help the organization accomplish its mission of spreading awareness of chronic pain and helping support those affected by it. This means maintaining the communication strategy of U.S. Pain, along with writing news articles, maintaining our social profiles, putting together emails, hosting webinars, and much more.

What has surprised you the most about working with U.S. Pain Foundation?

I have never worked with nicer, more caring people. Everyone laughed when I mentioned this, but during my first all-staff call, I was shocked to see everyone smiling and laughing and trying to talk at the exact same time. This was MUCH different from the everyone-muted Zoom calls I was familiar with in the past. The energy and commitment to fulfilling the mission of U.S. Pain from everyone here is so inspiring and energizing.

What might (someone) be surprised to know about you?

I feel like this is where I’m supposed to mention that I have an enormous cat… In those same Zoom calls I mentioned earlier everyone has ALSO responded with horror and shock to the size of my big boy, but he’s really just extremely big-boned/always wants to eat. Other than my large cat and very shy dog though, I know a fair amount about the history of Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” which I once wrote a freelance article about. I’m not sure that’s surprising, but it is the most random thing I could think of.

What is something you like to do in your free time?

My wife and I watch a lot of horror movies—so much that we’ve kind of run out of movies that we haven’t already seen a million times.