Kevin Keogh, a father of two young children, has little spare time. However, he recognizes the value of volunteerism and serves as the board president for CancerLINC, a Richmond area nonprofit dedicated to easing the burden of cancer for patients and their families. 

CancerLINC connects cancer patients and their families with legal, financial and community resources, allowing them to focus on their health. In the past year, CancerLINC, with the help of over 160 volunteer attorneys and financial professionals, has served 745 cancer patients and addressed 979 non-medical issues.

Keogh grew up in the Richmond area in a close-knit family with five siblings. He played basketball and baseball at Midlothian High School and attended the University of Virginia. His mother raised the oldest children independently while his father, also a UVA graduate, served in Vietnam.

The strong family unit created by Keogh’s parents defines his world view, and they maintain the closeness they formed during their childhood years. His parents and two older brothers have been major influencers in his life, further deepening the importance he places on family. Each summer, the family gathers for a week at a big beach house that accommodates parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews. Keogh and his wife also make an annual trip to Tybee Island, Ga., to spend a week with her extended family. He met his wife while he was in Georgia for graduate school.

The importance of family influenced the couple’s decision to move back to Richmond. They wanted their children to have the support and impact of the large extended family.

Being a full-time dad means keeping up with a busy schedule of baseball games and gymnastics meets. Keogh coaches one of his son’s baseball teams and is learning as much as he can about competitive gymnastics to support his daughter’s athletic pursuits.

With a career in technology and organizational consulting for top consulting firms on his résumé, Keogh is now an independent consultant. Although he likes the flexibility that independent consulting provides, he’s keeping his eye out for new challenges and stability that a permanent position offers.

Meet the die-hard UVA sports fan and family man who leads the board at CancerLINC and this week’s Personality:

Volunteer position: President, CancerLINC Board of Directors.

Occupation: Technology-focused strategist and leader.

Date and place of birth: Oct. 3 in Springfield.

Where I live now: Midlothian.

Education: Bachelor’s in commerce, UVA, and MBA, University of Georgia.

Family: Wife, Ashley; daughter, Harper; son, James; two parents, five brothers and sisters, five sisters- and brothers-in-law, 12 nieces and nephews and one niece-in-law.

CancerLINC is: A central Virginia-based nonprofit that “LINCs” cancer patients and their families to legal, financial and community resources to solve the non-medical obstacles that arise with a cancer diagnosis. CancerLINC services are always free, and the professional services provided by our volunteers are free of charge to patients who live below the federally defined poverty level.

When and why founded: CancerLINC was founded in 1996 when local attorney Phyllis Katz, a breast cancer survivor, needed help in dealing with the non-medical issues related to her cancer diagnosis and treatment. The experience prompted Katz and fellow attorney and breast cancer survivor, Ann Hodges, to organize a seminar about the plight of cancer patients. The first seminar at the University of Richmond was attended by more than 120 attorneys and advocates, marking the birth of the Legal Information Network for Cancer (LINC), now known as CancerLINC.

Founders: Phyllis Katz and Ann Hodges.

Location: 200 S. 3rd St.

How CancerLINC works: Patients communicate a need that is related to a cancer diagnosis, and our client services team refers those patients to volunteer attorneys, volunteer financial professionals or other community partners who can help.

Who is eligible for services: Anyone who calls. While roughly 90% of our patients are below the Federally defined HUD poverty level, qualifying them for free professional services, we can be a resource for anyone in the area who has been impacted by a cancer diagnosis.

CancerLINC services: With the help of over 200 volunteer professionals, we address issues often experienced by patients, such as medical debt, life planning legal documents, employment issues, insurance denials, housing insecurity and community resource support.

Funding: Individual and corporate donations, grants and fundraising events such as Pack Your Bags: Hawaii – A CancerLINC Luau.

Partnerships: Too many to name them all. A couple of shining examples are the Virginia Law Foundation and the Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) Richmond at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.

My initial CancerLINC involvement: After discovering the organization through the Board Concierge Services provided by Leadership Metro Richmond, I joined the governance committee initially, was invited to become a board member and then was honored to join the executive team.

When elected board president: June 2024.

Why CancerLINC is meaningful to me: Having observed and supported multiple family members in their own cancer journeys, I immediately recognized the organization’s tremendous value. The volume and variety of challenges presented by a cancer diagnosis are daunting for all and overwhelming for many. I’m grateful for the opportunity that CancerLINC provides to help people when they’ve never needed it more.

Goal as board president: Guide the organization’s efforts to build on its strong foundation and identify bold new ways to grow the population who benefits from CancerLINC’s services.

Biggest challenge: Helping the organization become a household name in the Richmond area. We’d love for more people to know about CancerLINC, the many ways we can help, and how their charitable contributions can yield tremendous impact.

Ways to contact CancerLINC for assistance: Call us at 804-562-0371 or visit cancerlinc.org.

How to get involved with CancerLINC: Become a volunteer by visiting the volunteer page on our website. We’re always looking to build our roster of legal and financial experts for core volunteer services, and we have countless other ways to further the CancerLINC mission.

Upcoming event: There’s the LINC Awards at the Jepson Alumni Center at the University of Richmond on Oct. 18, where we’ll honor volunteers for their service and contributions.

How I start the day: My day begins by waking up my middle school daughter, making her lunch, and keeping her on schedule, which allows my brain to ease into gear while delivering some parental value. Sometimes we even chat. 

The three words that best describe me: Thoughtful, dependable and witty.

Top three on my playlist: Mt. Joy, Michael Kiwanuka and my old standby, Dave Matthews Band.

A quote that inspires me: “Be quick, but don’t hurry” by John Wooden. I learned it during my days as a Midlothian Trojan basketball player. It applies to many walks of life and informs measured purposeful action.

The best thing my parents taught me: “Life is a team sport.”

Book that influenced me the most: “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. It is so hard, but it offers so much if one can endure.

Next goal: Accelerate CancerLINC’s adoption of Artificial Intelligence in smart, ethically sound ways that will deliver efficiencies and better outcomes for our growing stakeholder groups.