Corey L Kennard is Pastor of Amplify Christian Church and serves as an activist in the field of healthcare. His holistic approach serves as the foundation for his desire to see all human beings treated with dignity, honor, and respect in all facets of life. Corey earned a master’s degree from Ashland Theological Seminary and carries out his passion for people as a daring and devoted agent of change. In addition to serving as a Pastor and healthcare activist, Pastor Corey is a spiritual life coach, motivational speaker, and Partner/Board Member for several community organizations that seek to uplift the poor and vulnerable in society. As a credit to his work, he has received the Michigan Chronicle’s Men Of Excellence Award recognized in the Top 50 Most Influential African-American Men in the Metropolitan Detroit Region.
Corey has been involved in the field of healthcare for over 20 years with over 15 years of experience in the areas of Palliative Care and Hospice. He is a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) and currently serves as the Director of Patient Experience at one of Detroit’s largest hospitals. His work in healthcare has also included leading a spiritual care team, and serving as a faculty lead for Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End Of Life (ICEOL) national training program called, “APPEAL.” In this role, he was instrumental in co-creating a national teaching module for understanding spirituality at the end of life for African-Americans.
He has provided intensive, hands-on consultation, as-well-as informative and motivational conference presentations to healthcare professionals and faith community leaders on the importance and impact of a person’s spirituality while facing illness. As it relates to healthcare, he has also served as a national advisory board member for The Hospice Foundation of America, and as a co-director of a Community Faith “Advance Care Planning” Project for the University of Virginia. He currently serves on the board of several healthcare related organizations which includes Reimagine: End of Life, the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and the Cambia Health Foundation’s National Advisory Board for the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program (SSLP).
His thought provoking and energizing speaking style has made him a choice of organizations and educational institutions seeking conference speakers, workshop presenters, or inspiring lecturers. Corey is one of the most sought after and preferred national speakers on the subject of faith and its impact on both medical and end-of-life care
As a writer, Corey has been a New York Times contributing columnist, he has been published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, written motivational columns for the Detroit News, and authored two books – Goliath Must Fall and his latest release, Hamburgers & A Holy Man, which is currently available on Amazon.com and Kindle. He is also a featured author in the recently released book Shattered: Trauma and Grief, published by Hospice Foundation of America.