Pami Keenan, J.D.

Pami Keenan began writing for her first daily newspaper at age 18. In 1985, she graduated magna cum laude from the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, where she was named the outstanding graduate of her college by the Society of Professional Journalists. At 19, she was nominated for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s prestigious “Maggie Awards for Media Excellence” for writing in the field of health care. Pami, who holds a minor in political science, also was the recipient of a public policy fellowship, during which she spent six months working for the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C.

In 1989 – after completing her law school dissertation in the area of disability and health care law – Pami graduated from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. In 1991, while working as a legal writer for the Tucson City Prosecutor’s Office, Pami was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She became the first person employed by the City to request accommodations under the newly enacted Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); ultimately, with the help of the Arizona Center for Disability Law, she successfully obtained reasonable accommodations.

After making a connection with the Arthritis Foundation, Pami joined – and then eventually became the leader of – the AF’s Young Adult Support Group. Her connections with the AF strengthened when she became chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the AF’s Southern Arizona Chapter. From that position, Pami was selected for both the AF’s national Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and the Young Adult Advisory Committee. Her tenure on the Foundation’s board included lobbying on Capitol Hill and in the Arizona legislature, and testifying before the U.S. Congress in 1993 regarding health care reform. Pami also served on the Arizona Governor’s Council for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases.

Pami spent much of her career in the legal communications field, serving for four years as the Director of Communications for the State Bar of Nevada, where she was editor-in-chief of the award-winning magazine, Nevada Lawyer. There she handled media and community relations, pioneered the State Bar’s “Making the law work for everyone” branding campaign, launched the Bar’s first website and taught crisis communications to justices of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Pami later returned to Arizona to take a position as a senior mar