Meet Kerri Kasem, radio talk host and advocate for elder abuse and aging issues
When you talk to her it becomes clear that Kerri Kasem doesn’t mince words. Bold and direct, she is clearly driven by a passion, one that is magnified by the sense that she has tasted real success. After the well-publicized legal battle she fought in order to secure proper treatment for her father, radio legend Casey Kasem, in his final days, as well as visitation rights for her and her siblings, she is seemingly as motivated in her pursuits as ever. However, Kerri herself does note a change in her interests.
“Im learning all about non-profits” She said, referencing the founding and expansion of her organization Kasem Cares. “In November it will be two years since it was created and in that time we’ve gotten three bills passed in California, Texas, and Iowa. We’ve done what a lot of non-profits couldn’t do in five years.”
This strikes as somewhat of an understatement. Kasem Cares has swept up momentum since it’s founding and has garnered national support. Now it plans to host a massive conference in April that focuses on educating both the public and health professionals on elder abuse and aging issues.
Kasem has taken the battle, which was initially about the child-parent relationship, to a larger focus on health issues in part because of her own father’s experience. She remembers how he was initially mis-diagnosed, and how the medicine and care he received would actually serve to worsen his condition. Accordingly, the conference will have a special interest in students in the medical field, the next wave of medical professionals. The foundation aims to influence both law makers and those within the medical field to seek to better pay attention to the specific nature of elder care.
Aside from the non-profit work Kerri honors her father’s memory through her love for the family’s Lebanese heritage. “My Dad was so proud to be Lebanese. And he really instilled that in us. We attended a lot of Arab American events, in fact soon I’ll be giving an Award on behalf of the ADC in memory of the activist Alex Odeh.” And Like Casey, Kerri has not only succeeded in an ultra-competitive environment as an Arab-American, but thrived. Now she is expanding her reach into a number of her different talents and interests.
“I’m doing three radio shows right now…rock radio is fun but I’m a talk radio host. It gives me a forum and a platform.” Indeed prior to beginning her work as an activist Kasem had hosted a rock radio show called Sixx Sense. However she sees her current work in financially-based talk radio as a natural progression in her professional life. Though she has not abandoned the world of art and entertainment as one of her shows deals with the world of the red carpet.
The focal point of her work however is promoting companies and small businesses that she feels deserve a chance. “I’m lucky and blessed to be able to promote businesses that are starting out. Just recently a small company that we promoted on the show became a fortune 500. Its amazing to be able to help with that.” Currently Kasem is helping to promote a mortgage lender called New American Funding, and sees the potential to continue to do this kind of work for the rest of her radio career, along with non-profit endeavors. As for the time being, Kerri Kasem is really enjoying where she is and where she’s going, “Talk radio has put my life in a direction that I need to go in. This is my passion.”