Mike Blanchard - From 1995-2007, Mike served dual roles as director of community education for Hospice of Acadiana and executive director of the Hospice of Acadiana Foundation. In that capacity, he was responsible for public relations and fundraising efforts for the local non-profit organization and for overseeing the volunteer program.From 2007-2015, Mike served as vice-president of development for Hospice of Wake County, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. During those eights years, he led fundraising efforts which resulted in more than $32 million in donations to hospice, including $15 million for the creation of a nine acre hospice center, which includes a 20-bed residential hospice facility. Mike has also been a consultant to several non-profit organizations, first in his roll as executive of the Volunteer Center of Lafayette from 1990-1995 and then as the principal in Foundations of Leadership. Through his affiliation with both organizations, he has conducted numerous trainings on board development, fundraising, and strategic planning. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mike is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Virginia. He also earned a Masters degree from Indiana University and did additional graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mike has published a number of articles on hospice care and end-of-life issues and authored a chapter in a nursing text book on end-of life care published by Jones-Bartlett. In September 2015, he published "Naming the Silence: New & Selected Poems."