Caregiving is a Team Sport: Heartwarming Action From Washington D.C.

From Left to Right: Erica Heyse, Diane Ty, Bryan Buckley, Paxton Baker, Richard Lui, Jason Resendez, Helen Bryant, Marion Phillips III, Didier Trinh, John Mullins, Kyle Woody, Rita Choula, Jean Accius, Liza Morris, Audrey Harrison, Dwan Reece 

A stone’s throw from the White House sits a seafood joint called Joe’s. In one of its private rooms, on the evening of February 19th, 2025, our board chair, Jean Accius, and I gathered a group of thought leaders and changemakers for a dinner we titled “Caregiving is a Team Sport”. Because at Jack’s we believe our “hero fixes it alone” culture leads far too many caregiving men into a trap of unsustainable isolation and overwhelm.   

We aimed to engage influential people in a powerful conversation on the evolving role of men who are family caregivers. In attendance were senior leaders (click here for their bios) from AARP, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Creating Healthier Communities, The Diverse Elders Coalition, The Milken Institute, The National Alliance for Family Caregiving, and others joined us to share insights and spark new ideas.   

We discussed the question, “When did someone go out of their way to show you that they cared?” It was a magic question* that unlocked heartwarming story after heartwarming story.  

From Left to Right: Richard Lui, NBC Breaking News Anchor and author of “Enough About Me,” Kyle Woody, Founder & Executive Director of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition, and Jean Accius, President & CEO of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. 

I was struck by how many of our guests struggled with the question, saying things like, “It’s much easier to think of helping others as opposed to the other way around.” This room was full of extremely generous humans who relentlessly gave, and I suspect people who are wired that way don’t spend much time considering who has given to them. 

I was surprised how many of the stories were about work colleagues showing up in extraordinary ways, like the compassionate way Richard Lui’s boss at NBC reacted when he told her his dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Far too often, we compartmentalize caring as something we do only for people at home.  

The stories I enjoyed most weren’t about “someone” going out of their way but rather an entire group of people doing it as a collective. I heard phrases like “the group of mothers” and “our village.” If you ask me, this is caregiving at its best when it looks like a team sport. 

I left feeling proud of my caregiving team back home (Here’s to you, Alison, Angie, Doug, and Pat!). I left feeling inspired to show up better for the people who work alongside me every day.  I left with a renewed appreciation for the innovative nature of our mission. When you’re immersed in something amazing every day, it’s difficult to keep sight of how awesome it is.  

While the heartwarming stories were enough, I’m delighted to report our gathering also resulted in heartwarming action. Today, participants from this group are actively collaborating to drive meaningful change for caregiving families, particularly those led by men.  Collaborations inspired by our vision of what the world will look in 2035 after we’ve improved the lives of at least 1 million caregiving men. A world in which we’ve dismantled the toxic “hero fixes it alone” mindset. A world in which caregiving is widely understood as a team sport, and men who are non-professional caregivers are celebrated as the compassionate athletes they are. A world in which caregiving has completely shed its reputation as a solely feminine endeavor, resulting in men everywhere feeling less marginalized.  

*Credit Priya Parker, author of “The Art of Gathering”