The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) announced that Kristin Holloway has joined its Board of Directors. This appointment was made effective April 18.

After experiencing a sequence of unexplained changes in behavior and personality, Ms. Holloway's husband, Lee Holloway, was diagnosed with behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) in April 2017. A gifted technology pioneer, Mr. Holloway co-founded Cloudflare, a company dedicated to making the Internet safer, faster and more reliable.

"As a care partner for a loved one with FTD, it's important for me to do what I can to make a difference for those living with this disease, and for the family and friends supporting them," Ms. Holloway said.

"It's a long, hard and often devastating journey to watch someone you care about so deeply deal with the ramifications of this disease, especially when they are in the prime of their life," she added. "By joining the AFTD Board, I can now dedicate time and energy into helping other families that are emotionally and financially impacted by FTD."

FTD is the most common dementia for people under 60. It brings progressive changes in behavior, personality, language, and/or movement. Today, there are no disease-modifying treatments, and there is no way to prevent or cure FTD. On average, even receiving a diagnosis takes 3.6 years.

Ms. Holloway brings more than 10 years of experience as a communications strategist for high-growth technology companies to the AFTD Board. She joins like-minded individuals, business leaders, professionals, and philanthropists from a variety of disciplines providing Board leadership for the organization. Her involvement will be instrumental in AFTD's work to raise awareness, a crucial step toward bringing about compassionate care, effective support, and a future free of FTD.

"We are grateful that Kristin is dedicating her time and support to helping us bring new attention to – and address – the burdens of dementia," said AFTD's CEO Susan L-J Dickinson. "The millions of Americans suffering from dementia – particularly those facing young-onset dementia like FTD – are challenged on many fronts, including just getting through each day."

The Holloway Fund for Help and Hope

To honor Lee's legacy, in 2019, Kristin and the Holloway family established The Holloway Fund for Help and Hope at AFTD. Donations to this fund will be designated 50 percent to AFTD's support programs and 50 percent to research.

"Knowing the full scope of the struggles families face in having to care for a loved one with FTD, our goal with this fund is to help others as they navigate the challenging road ahead," Ms. Holloway said.

"Further, given Lee's contributions to the world of technology, it is critical that our fund also focus on supporting cutting-edge research and advancement in FTD treatment so that we can work towards a day when no one has to fear an FTD diagnosis."

The Holloway family's story of Lee's diagnosis is featured in an article, "What Happened to Lee?" in the May 2020 issue of WIRED.

About AFTD

Founded in 2002 by a small group of volunteers, AFTD (online at theaftd.org) is today the nation's leading organization dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by FTD. In recent years, we have established and strengthened critical partnerships with the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, the Diagnostics Accelerator initiative, and Target ALS, to foster collaborative work to address FTD and benefit others facing dementia, ALS, and any form of neurodegenerative disease.