She has won an Emmy, helped research the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and has taken the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) by storm with her unusually innovative public relations initiatives such as Legacy of Heroes and Wounded in Action.
Sandy Gordon, now Director of Public Relations for AAOS, was raised a world away from surgeons, orthopedics, art exhibits and politics. She first worked as a special education teacher in Virginia, and was later scooped up by the Hubert Humphrey campaign to promote issues important to people with disabilities. Later, when directing public relations efforts for the American Academy of Dermatology, she convinced Dr. John Tongue that what she was doing for dermatologists could also be done for orthopedists.
The Journey From Fargo
Years ago, Sandy Gordon just wanted a Bat Mitzvah. It was only fair. And so, the little girl with curly black hair blew into the local rabbi’s office in Fargo, North Dakota, and said, “All the boys in this town have Bar Mitzvahs. I want a Bat Mitzvah, ” the rabbi replied, “Sure. Why not?”
Even then, unfairness just made Sandy Gordon’s hair curl.
But justice would be done…and would become the driving force in Sandy Gordon’s eventful life story.
The fight for a Bat Mitzvah in 1950s Fargo was likely the easiest challenge she ever encountered. But even that required a budding sense of chutzpah. It also offered an early clue that her internal tuning fork for unfairness was sharp and her willingness to fight for others was always at the ready.
It is no exaggeration to say that Gordon has altered the history and stature of AAOS by applying her energy and sense of fairness to a cornucopia of inventive and inspirational public relations projects…efforts which have earned almost 200 national and international accolades for AAOS.
For Sandy Gordon, it started with a friend who had cerebral palsy. “One summer in high school I worked at a camp for children with disabilities, something that led to my interest in special education. I became friends with a local girl with cerebral palsy who—it seemed—had been sent to Jamestown, North Dakota, by her family because there were no accommodations for kids with handicaps where she lived. Her life situation led me to develop a strong sense of caring about people with disabilities. Several years ago I had an emotional reunion with her and over dinner I told her how being her friend and knowing her experiences had shaped my entire life. She burst out laughing and said, ‘That’s not why I was in Jamestown. It was because my family was overprotective and my dad decided that the only way I would become independent was if I got some distance from them.’ How odd it was to learn that the trajectory of my life had been based on something that didn’t actually happen!”
Researching the ADA
This, of course, doesn’t matter to the thousands of people whose lives she has changed. “In the 1980s I worked in rehabilitation centers in Minnesota and Chicago, during which time I helped research various portions of the ADA…and I was there for the signing of the bill. While it was thrilling, the enforcement side of things was tough. We could write this great bill, get it passed into law, but then you have the very real question of how to enforce it. How, for example, can you get small business to make their premises wheelchair accessible in a way that doesn’t pose a huge financial burden for them? Over the years things have changed, however, and the funding has been made available. But, enforcement issues still remain.”
Gordon, named ‘PR Professional of the Year’ by PRNews in 2004, says that leading the public relations effort for AAOS has been the zenith of her career. When she began in this position 12 years ago, Gordon brought with her a trail of experiences that ended up making orthopedics a perfect fit.
“I lived in Washington, D.C. when Hubert Humphrey was running for president, and I knew he had a grandchild with Down Syndrome. At that time no political figure seemed to care about handicapped people…no one was willing to tackle issues like accessibility, housing, and employment. I walked into his presidential campaign office and asked to speak with him—and I did. I told him, ‘I know you have a grandchild with Down Syndrome and I am a special education teacher. Let’s form a committee that will do things for the handicapped, such as organize people with disabilities so they can get to voting places. Not only was he very enthused about the idea, but I was hired on the spot.”
The Sandy Effect
In just one example of “the Sandy effect, ” Gordon was the brainstorm behind the elegant and moving AAOS art exhibition, “Wounded in Action.” Whether it’s a civilian’s lithograph depicting a Marine through a riflescope or an orthopedic surgeon’s oil painting of a field of graves, the viewer has the opportunity to be deeply drawn into another’s experience. Gordon states, “We had just completed the enormous AAOS 75th anniversary project, and had some funding in reserve. I racked my brain to think of what good use might come of it. Eureka! Let’s tell the stories of those doctors and civilians whose lives have been forever changed by war. Art can often draw people into the lives of those in pain when words cannot ‘get through.’ The exhibit has been a huge success, and continues to travel the country and alter the lives of those involved.”
Sandy after setting up for AAOS 75th AnniversaryNot “only” an observer of those who have faced chaos and uncertainty, Sandy Gordon has had her own experiences of heavy themes…death, loss, illness, divorce. “When I was 16 my world shifted, and the lives of everyone in my family were turned upside down. My dad had two business partners, his brother and my mother’s sister’s husband. We were all extremely close. While my father stayed home for one particular trip, the other two partners went, and were killed in a car accident. My mom fell apart…she declined physically and sunk into a depression. My dad was also depressed, but he shouldered the responsibility of taking care of the two families who had lost dads. I took over so much at home, and out of that experience grew into a person who tends to have a substantial empathy for others and a deep desire to help those who are suffering.”
It was one of the first times that Sandy Gordon realized that to make it through tough times she would have to dig deep inside…and find laughter. “My sense of humor has kept me going through difficult times—and through life in general. And I’m often my own target for the humor. For example, years ago I was walking with a good friend who was blind. We were exiting a building with a revolving door and I was chatting away and exited the door. I left him in the door and he has never let me forget it!”
“And when I took sign language classes I ended up getting myself into trouble. While introducing the governor of Minnesota at a conference, instead of signing that he was, ‘My dear friend, ’ I signed that he was, ‘My dear hamburger.’ Another time I was trying to help a deaf student get coffee and I signed something so naughty that I totally embarrassed my teacher…and myself.”
Gordon, who was brought on board at AAOS to let the public know the value of orthopedic surgeons, hasn’t done any signing lately…she is communicating everything in her most familiar language…and doing so with a punch. Gordon, the genius behind AAOS’ eMotion Pictures exhibit, says, “In 2001 we launched a truly moving art exhibit that included works from people from all walks of life—even children—who have had to contend with an orthopedic condition. I went to industry to raise the funding, then we opened at the AAOS Annual Meeting, the Chicago Cultural Center and then toured the exhibit nationwide. The art, which captured feelings involving healing, frustration, self-image, etc., was just extraordinary.”
A Devastating Loss
Sandy Gordon, who has an extraordinary personal loss in her past, could have contributed artwork to the exhibit as well. “My second child was a little boy born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), known as ‘brittle bone disease.’ He only lived a few hours. Afterwards, nearly everyone came up to me and said that I was lucky that he didn’t survive…that his life would have been so difficult. My only thought was, ‘If anyone would have been a good mother to someone with a disability it would be me.’ I became more determined than ever to do things for people with disabilities.”
“In the ensuing years, people with OI have come into my life and I have been able do things for them. Several years ago I met a young girl with OI who wanted to compete in the Miss Teen USA contest, but was denied this opportunity. I was incensed. I called the media, they got their cameras, and we all went to the contest offices. This young girl in a wheelchair knocked on their doors and we caught it on camera when they slammed the door in her face. They were shamed into letting her compete. She died the following year.”
Next week, learn about Sandy Gordon’s AAOS Legacy of Heroes project, her work on the AAOS Distracted Driving campaign, how she received a personal tour of the White House from President Clinton…and more.
