LGBTQ+ Lung Health Leaders
Lexi Popovici
We honor Lexi Popovici, a Manager of Health Promotions who leads the Smoking and Health Action Coalition of Livingston and Monroe Counties which is based out of upstate New York. As an avid runner suffering from Exercise-Induced Asthma, Lexi’s remains dedicated to promoting lung health, clean air and policy-driven efforts to eliminate lung disease. Her partner, Lindsay Bodine, is an ICU nurse who was at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced the difficulties associated with population health outcomes and comorbidity factors. As a tobacco control advocate, Lexi specializes in community mobilization, public engagement and the implementation of evidence-based strategies to help populations disproportionately affected from the impacts of tobacco and nicotine. Having two grandparents pass away from smoking-related disease has ultimately strengthened her passion to champion lung wellness, to mitigate related health disparities and to prevent youth accessibility of nicotine products.
Darlene Hamilton
We honor Darlene Hamilton, our very own National Manager of Donor Relations, a loving mother of five, and wife and partner to Renee Hamilton for the past eight years. Darlene is a lung advocate who knows firsthand the struggles that come with having children and a spouse who cannot breathe due to chronic asthma, from emergency room visits to staying up all night with her youngest daughter, youngest son, and wife on nebulizers. As a young girl, Darlene had to call 911 on a nearby payphone when her mother collapsed in the street from an asthma attack, an experience she says she will never forget. Today, Darlene continues her work with the American Lung Association, working with hundreds of staff and volunteers to achieve our mission to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. She advocates for her children and wife, as well as for children that struggle with asthma.
Janet Peters
We honor LUNG FORCE Hero, Janet Peters, loving wife and partner of 23 years to Karen Iannella. Karen lost her battle to Stage 4 Lung Cancer at 5:33 p.m. on March 20th, 2019. Karen was just 53 years young and passed away 11 days after receiving the news that she had Stage 4 Lung Cancer which had spread to multiple organs outside of her right lung.
Today, Janet is an amazing advocate for the American Lung Association who spends her free time participating in her local LUNG FORCE Walk, is a member of the LUNG FORCE Walk: Providence Event Committee and also sits on the Rhode Island Leadership Board. She advocates for Karen every day and other women and men who have been taken by lung cancer much too soon.
Allan DallaTorre
We honor Allan DallaTorre, a business leader, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce member, and lung health advocate. His company, LA Event Lights, has been designated as an approved vendor of the Super Bowl LVI Business Connect program. It is one of 230 local diverse businesses in the Los Angeles area identified as a certified, experienced company approved to compete for contracts related to the Super Bowl. Allan and his event team were a key part of LUNG FORCE Walk and Fight For Air Climb in Los Angeles. When his brother contracted COVID-19 in early 2020, Allan stepped up to be an Ambassador in the ”End COVID-19” campaign for the American Lung Association’s Pacific West region. He even spoke on ABC7 about the efforts of the Lung Association and shared how the pandemic affected his family. We thank Allan for his role in bringing our in-person events to life and applaud his leadership in the LGBTQ+ community.
Page last updated: June 7, 2024
