This year, I attended my third National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) Advocate Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in 2026 in Washington, DC. I attended my first Advocate Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in 2024, when I was also selected to attend NBCC’s Project LEAD Institute in La Jolla, California.
Only having my personal advocacy experience, I had been told of what to expect, but I must tell you that I was very nervous about how I could learn the science of anything after spending my entire career in the humanities and communications.
I thought: “What if I cannot comprehend all of the information; how could I relate to anyone who is in the science field and well versed?” But after arriving, meeting our training team, and the various scholars from around the world, I was ready for what was ahead.
Today, I can tell you that this journey has been one of the most exhilarating and humble experiences of my life. Now, I am poised to impact and impart knowledge and education regarding the science of breast cancer and advocacy, particularly to and on behalf of women and men.
I am a Survivorship Specialist with the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, and my connection to the organization began over two decades ago through quiet support and community involvement, but my own Breast Cancer journey began on January 19, 2015, when I was diagnosed with Stage II-B triple negative breast cancer. Now, as a member of the Education and Survivorship Team, with increased knowledge, my training during Project LEAD helped me to even more advance NBCC’s messages and efforts to end breast cancer. Project LEAD gave me first-hand, credible knowledge of the priorities and the plan to reach NBCC’s goal of ending breast cancer for all.
My experiences at Project LEAD and the ongoing training have provided me with confidence to represent breast cancer issues with survivors in the community, at NBCC advocacy events, and beyond.
The abundance of information, the valuable conversations through questions and answers, and one-on-one interactions with the experts in the myriads of scientific fields all helped to shape me and my very limited knowledge of what I was advocating for.
I came back to Delaware with a renewed sense of confidence and connections to not only my disease and survivorship, but also with more grounded information on what I needed to share with those in my community and beyond about breast cancer.
I am forever grateful to NBCC and Project LEAD for helping me to be who and where I am in the breast cancer world, and for helping me live by my montre of “helping others” through my advocacy.
