A member of the famed Kennedy political family is joining the management of a fast-growing St. Louis startup.
Amy Kennedy has become a member of the board of directors at St. Louis-based senior caregiving startup TCARE, the company said. Kennedy is co-founder of the Kennedy Forum, a New Jersey-based nonprofit focused on mental health advocacy.
Kennedy is married to Kennedy Forum founder Patrick Kennedy, who represented Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2011. Patrick Kennedy’s father was the late Ted Kennedy, a longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts whose brother was former President John F. Kennedy. Amy Kennedy is a former teacher and has also forayed into politics, with a failed bid in 2020 to represent New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District. She lost in the general election to incumbent Jeff Van Drew.
Kennedy’s appointment to TCARE’s board comes as the startup charts rapid growth, having raised a $17 million Series A financing in September 2022 and announcing last month plans to move to a new headquarters locally. TCARE, which was spun out of research from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, provides an evidence-based analytics program that allows social workers, care managers and care coordinators to help family members and caregivers responsible for seniors. It works with managed care organizations and government agencies as well as health, life and long-term care insurance carriers. The company’s platform is designed to reduce long-term caregiver burnout and limit the need to turn to alternative care options such as nursing homes and hospital stays.
“In the ongoing aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, caregivers are suffering more burnout than ever before,” said Kennedy. “Whether caregivers are at home with a family member or with an agency, we know this work can take a serious toll on mental health. I’m honored to join TCARE’s board and support a mission that gives caregivers the support they need to continue to take care of others. We need caregivers, and caregivers need care too.”
TCARE CEO Ali Ahmadi said Kennedy’s background in mental health advocacy will help the startup “continue improving the robust mental health resources and support currently offered to family caregivers."
“She brings a unique ‘boots on the ground’ perspective and her experience leveraging evidence-based protocols to facilitate bipartisan legislative support and policy change will ensure that informal caregivers are adequately represented in the allocation of limited federal funding,” Ahmadi said.
TCARE declined to disclose if it's received any funding from the Kennedy Forum. In addition to Kennedy, TCARE's board members include Ahmadi; Bikram Bakshi, former CEO of Optum Govt and Optum International: and Brittany Clements, managing director of American Family Ventures. Board observers include Amanda Joseph, principal at American Family Ventures, and Atul Kamra, managing partner of St. Louis-based SixThirty Ventures.
TCARE, initially based in Wisconsin, relocated to St. Louis in 2019 after winning funding from local nonprofit startup funder Arch Grants. It has since expanded quickly, growing to a team of more than 170 employees. Ahmadi told St. Louis Inno in September 2022 that TCARE had tripled its annual recurring revenue year over year. He did not disclose specific revenue figures.
