Head to the Hill Event Details

• Registration is open to anyone impacted by brain tumors, including patients and survivors, caregivers, family, friends, researchers, and industry or medical professionals.
• Anyone participating in congressional meetings must register separately using a unique email address. Parents of young kids without email addresses, please email us at advocacy@braintumor.org after registering yourself.
• Registration opens in January and closes the first week of April each year.
  

Yes. Head to the Hill attendees can book a room in our block after registering for the event. This hotel location will be provided in post-registration communications.

All event components will occur at the event hotel.

Yes, valet parking is available.

NBTS will provide bus transportation to Capitol Hill in the morning and return transportation to the event hotel in the early evening. 

Participants can also request a wheelchair-accessible taxi while in Washington, D.C. (https://ohr.dc.gov/taxis/request). We offer the use of a mobility scooter for free, which we will have available Sunday evening through Tuesday evening. You can sign up during registration or email advocacy@braintumor.org.

There is very limited parking available on Capitol Hill. If you are driving, we encourage you to park at Union Station and walk to Capitol Hill.

Advocates can dress casually for the Welcome Reception and the in-person training. For the day of congressional meetings, please wear your Head to the Hill t-shirt, which you will receive in person during the Training Day, and business casual slacks or skirt. Wear comfortable shoes, as getting around Capitol Hill can require a lot of walking.

Head to the Hill in May is an in-person-only event. If you are unable to attend, we will post a Head to the Hill Day of Action alert so you can send your legislators an identical message to the one advocates are delivering on Capitol Hill. We’ll also have a second opportunity to meet virtually with your legislators this fall during Advocate From Your State.

This is a relaxed reception to gather together with the brain tumor community and connect with NBTS staff while learning more about our programs after an energizing Race for Hope DC experience earlier in the day. The reception will feature a brief program, optional activities, and small-group meetups, and a chance to visit with other volunteers from across the country while enjoying appetizers and drinks at the event hotel.

There are a limited number of scholarships available for Head to the Hill to cover hotel costs. The scholarship application will open in January 2027, and the deadline to apply for a scholarship is mid-March 2027. Scholarship applicants will be notified by March 31.

Scholarships are awarded based on a variety of factors, including whether there are other advocates signed up to represent the applicant’s state, as well as their answers to the questions in the application. If you have any specific questions about the scholarship process, please contact advocacy@braintumor.org.

Yes, anyone planning to attend the event and participate in congressional meetings must register separately using a unique email address. Congressional offices require a list of everyone attending, including children. If you are a parent to young kids without email addresses, please email us at advocacy@braintumor.org after registering yourself. NOTE: Please refrain from using the same email address to register multiple participants; our system will overwrite the original registration, resulting in the loss of information.

Finally, each participant must register separately and attend the in-person training to receive a t-shirt.

NBTS will arrange all of your meetings and will make every effort to secure appointments for you to meet with your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative. If a Senator or Representative is unavailable, we will schedule the meeting with a staffer in that congressional office.

Please note that meetings with congressional staff are just as important as meetings with the actual Senator or Representative! Staff members are key advisors to the lawmaker and often decide what information is passed on to your member of Congress. These staff members meet regularly with constituents as part of their job.

Your personal brain tumor story can make the difference between just another meeting and a meeting that results in action and support from your member of Congress.

• Please do not set up your own appointments. If you have special contacts with members of Congress or their staff, please include that information in your registration or contact us at advocacy@braintumor.org.
• The process of how your meetings will be arranged is as follows:
  • Your home address will be used to match you with the Representative and Senators for whom you are a constituent
  • You will then be grouped with other advocates according to district and state. You will attend all meetings together, even those for whom you are not a constituent, if you are grouped with an advocate from another part of your state or, in some cases, another state.
  • An email with instructions on how to download the AdvocacyDaymobile app to access your schedule will be sent roughly one week in advance. This app will contain all the information you will need to prepare for and attend these meetings.
• If you are the only advocate from your state, we will pair you with NBTS staff or experienced volunteers.
• Advocates are usually scheduled for three or more meetings, each about 15-30 minutes in duration. Meetings can take place between 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET at the offices of your Senators and Representative on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
• You will have time to meet with your fellow advocates to prepare for your meetings during the training day.

Please email advocacy@braintumor.org with any questions.

Head to the Hill training consists of a pre-event webinar 2-3 weeks prior to the event and an onsite, in-person training on Monday, May 3, 2027. These trainings and the associated background materials prepare each advocate to share their experience with brain tumors most effectively, speak about NBTS’s legislative priorities, and highlight their efforts on social media. Additionally, the training will showcase ways that advocacy creates change, how past Head to the Hill participants have impacted public policies, and why it’s important to advocate for increased medical research funding.

Registered participants will receive more detailed information, access to online training aids, and an agenda in advance of the event.

Meetings will be scheduled throughout the day on Tuesday, May 4, 2027. Nearly every meeting will take place that day between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET.

Your meeting schedule depends on when your congressional offices are available to meet. You will receive your schedule for your meetings via an email from AdvocacyDay containing instructions for downloading their mobile app approximately one week prior to Head to the Hill. The schedule is subject to change at any point, including on May 4. The schedules will be available on the app and will not be printed on paper.

Everyone will have at least one other advocate in the meeting with them. Participants will join other advocates from their state or NBTS staff and advocacy professionals who can help navigate the meetings.

There will be structured time during the training day on Monday, May 3, 2027, for advocates to practice and choreograph an effective congressional meeting within their state groups. In some cases, two states will attend meetings together if there are very few advocates from each state. Alternatively, for larger states, participants will be split into smaller groups for meetings with members of the House of Representatives, so those smaller groups will practice before coming together as a whole state to practice for the two Senate meetings.

Members of Congress make decisions largely because of the impact legislation will have on their constituents. Each year, we see the value of brain tumor advocates meeting directly with their members of Congress to highlight how these important issues affect members in their district or state.

• National Brain Tumor Society’s legislative priorities see greater support following Head to the Hill. In 2026, there was an immediate increase in co-sponsorship of the Bolstering Research And Innovation Now (BRAIN) Act in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as for the Brain Tumor Awareness Month Commemorative Resolution and the Glioblastoma Awareness Day Commemorative Resolution in the House.
• During the most recent appropriations process, Congress included an increase to the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program, which funds brain cancer and pediatric brain tumors as two of research topic areas; an increase to a glioblastoma research program within the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program; an increase to National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI); and the Give Kids a Chance Act and the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act. These were all policy priorities for which our community advocated during Head to the Hill and the virtual Advocate From Your State event in 2025.

Advocates regularly inspire policymakers to take action on an important policy or issue affecting the brain tumor community. The positive relationships established with congressional offices during Head to the Hill can have long-lasting effects.

Head to the Hill started in 2011 with 31 advocates going to Capitol Hill to share their stories with members of Congress. It has grown into NBTS’s marquee advocacy event, with hundreds of advocates coming together each year to make their voices heard and motivate policymakers to take action for the brain tumor community. Every spring, we welcome volunteers who join us for the first time or return each year to connect with other members of the brain tumor community in person and urge government officials to pass policies that support our vision of conquering and curing brain tumors — once and for all.

Yes. To participate in meetings with Congress on Capitol Hill, all volunteers must also attend the in-person training the day prior in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, each participant must be on-site on Capitol Hill and available to meet at any time between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., so please take this into account when making travel plans. If traveling by plane, please allow adequate time to travel from Capitol Hill to the airport. This will require a flight after 7 p.m. on Tuesday, or you may choose to depart on Wednesday.

NBTS works to ensure that Head to the Hill is accessible to members of the brain tumor community and that we responsibly use the funds raised by individuals like you in a way that most benefits patients with brain tumors and their families. This $25 registration fee helps bear some of the expenses of meeting facilities, scheduling, and logistics, as well as supporting scholarships for advocates who otherwise could not travel to Head to the Hill.

• We understand that plans may change, so if you are unable to attend for any reason, you can cancel by April 22, 2027, and we will refund this fee.

• Please note that for any cancellations or no-shows after April 22, the $25 fee is non-refundable.  If this registration fee would prohibit you from joining us in Washington, D.C., please contact us at advocacy@braintumor.org to request a waiver.

Yes! If you register for either of these two events, you’ll receive a 50% discount to register for the other. Questions? Email advocacy@braintumor.org.