Michaela Gagne

Who is Michaela Gagne?

Michaela J. Gagne was crowned Miss Massachusetts in June 2006. She is a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts. She received her BFA in art with a minor in psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2006, she completed her Master’s degree in Mental Health Counselling and Art Therapy from Lesley University.

As Miss Massachusetts, her Platform Issue was Heart Health: Listen, Learn, and Live, which was a reaction to having been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition and having undergone surgery for an internal cardiac defibrillator at the age of 17. She is currently a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, and she has traveled to Capitol Hill several times to speak with members of Congress regarding the work that must be done regarding heart disease.

Gagne is a national spokesperson for the SADS Foundation, as well as Parent Heart Watch, a group of parents making great strides in legislative and national awareness in memory of the children they have lost to Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Gagne also serves as an international spokesperson for Heartbeat International, an organization that provides surgery and the means for pacemakers, defibrillators, and other devices to be implanted in some of the one million people who are dying every year without these procedures. In addition, Gagne continues to campaign on local and national levels to make Automated External Defibrillators mandatory in our schools. Gagne has been interviewed nationally on CNN, Fox News and Inside Edition, as well as being featured in various publications including USA Today, Newsweek online and The Boston Globe.