Yolanda J. Murphy

Yolanda J. Murphy

Yolanda J. Murphy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  At a young age, she understood the value of education and the importance of excelling. In 1997, she graduated from Trinity Christian School and went on to obtain her BS in Business Management from Carlow University in 2008. For several years, Yolanda has worked for a healthcare company and until 2016 was living a normal simple life.  At the age of 36, things drastically changed.  Yolanda was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) of the left breast. She underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and thirty radiation treatments.  As a young African American woman, she thought this could never happen to her and more frightening was the inability to find the necessary resources to help her navigate her now new normal.  While she is thankful for the organizations that did help her fight for life, she is passionate about advocating and providing resources for young women suffering with breast cancer.  She understands how important it is for women to know being “too young to get cancer” is a myth. Equally important, she wants women to know they have the inner strength and mental tenacity to conquer anything they are going through, including difficult physical challenges.

Yolanda serves as a Pennsylvania State Leader for Young Survivor Coalition (YCS), an advisory board member for Lacuna Loft, 2017-2018 Young Advocate for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) and an active member of Young Adult Cancer Support (YACS) of Pittsburgh. She has shared her story with a variety of audiences and organizations and in January 2018, she created a blog to share her story with the world, thisexceptionaljourney.com. She is also in the process of writing her first book.

Yolanda is now cancer-free and encourages all she meets by declaring: “I am a miracle! Despite what it looks like, you can make it. Find what gives you hope.”

Follow Yolanda J Murphy, @thisexceptionaljourney, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For speaking engagements, sessions or just to be in touch, she can be reached at yjm@yolandamurphy.com. You can also write to PO Box 261, Turtle Creek, PA 15145.

Vikki Christian

Vikki is a proven strategic communications leader with more than 15 years experience in the global healthcare sector, including pharmaceuticals, biotech, patient advocacy, and public policy. In 2016, she launched her independent consulting practice after a corporate career working with companies at all stages of development including for some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. 

As a trusted business partner and advisor, she leads high-profile global corporate communications and investor relations activities, helping her business partners craft evidence into stories that shape decisions, drive innovation, and connect to the patients and consumers they care about.

Vikki has a BA in Communications and Public Relations from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. She has been a hospice volunteer for several organizations in the Los Angeles area since 2012. When not working, she can be found hiking, backpacking, roadtripping, or spending time with friends and family.

Bryan Walker

Bryan C. Walker is a 7 year HL cancer survivor and suits blazer extraordinaire. Bryan currently is a Healthcare Business Development Manager for an organization in Atlanta GA.  He currently is a multiple-year President award winner for his organization. During COVID, Bryan was able to use his knowledge as an advocate and a former patient to help facilitate a plan to bring hundreds of quality medical staff personnel to provide for the citizens of Georgia.  Bryan has a BS in Rehabilitation and an MS with a concentration in Healthcare Management from Troy University. He loves traveling and exploring new cultures- especially visiting distilleries in the USA.

Bekah Jordan

Bekah Jordan is a writer, designer, educator, installation, and theatre artist who has a love for experimentation and a knack for not following the rules. So it follows suit that she received her cancer diagnosis on the day of final dress rehearsal for a show she was directing in 2013. After much deliberation, the oncology team decided it was a rare form of leukemia called CMML-2 (and of course, over 90% of patients diagnosed with CMML are male and 65+). She had a stem cell transplant (the only chance for cure) later that year at 25 y/o. Now, almost 5 years later, she is still in remission (!) but deals with many challenges including the unruly autoimmune disease GvHD caused by that life-saving transplant. She’s been blogging her experience since the beginning at spaceshipcoupe.blogspot.com, and deep down believes that her life is, indeed, a comedy.

Tara O’Donoghue

Tara truly tapped into a consistent yoga practice in 2009 when she was in the midst of a challenging time caregiving for a loved one who was battling cancer. Cultivating a consistent yoga practice during a challenging time in life helped her stay more grounded and at peace through ups, downs, transitions and whirlwinds of emotion. Through the past decade her yoga practice has ebbed and flowed to compliment a busy schedule racing bikes and running a small business while also helping her heal mentally from stress and anxiety, physically from injuries and emotionally from tragic grief when her husband passed away from cancer in 2016. Processing emotion through yoga combined with Yoga Therapy training led to the creation of Lov Yoga www.lov.yoga

Tara completed a 200hr Teacher Training through Colorado School of Yoga and a 500hr Teacher Training through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy. She believes that teachers are always learning and she has been studying for 3 years to become a certified Yoga Therapist by October 2021. Yoga Therapy involves using the practices of yoga postures, breathwork, meditation and other contemplative practices to balance the body, breath, mind and soul. Tara works with clients individually to help them integrate transformational routines and practices intentionally into their lives. She is also the yoga teacher/facilitator for the Dear Jack Foundation’s Breathe Now Retreats and a yoga teacher/consultant for First Descents. When Tara isn’t retreating in beautiful locations, she teaches the Breathe Series for AYA – Young Adult Cancer Survivors and their community. She also teaches online classes and provides yoga consulting for First Descents. This collection of yoga, breathwork, meditations, cancer specific functional therapy and self reflective practices is one of her favorite projects and she is excited to meet you virtually on the mat. Tara hopes that her classes help others feeling strong but soft both on the mat and in life. She is always growing through what she goes through, how about you?

Jean Rowe, LCSW, OSW-C, CJT

Jean Rowe, LCSW, OSW-C, CJT

Jean is an expert consultant and trusted voice in the field of young adult cancer. Her work includes educational product and program development, delivery, management, and evaluation. Jean is an expert facilitator who designs, implements, and delivers continuing education for healthcare providers and journal writing workshops to young adult cancer survivors and the general public.

Jean has presented regionally, nationally and internationally on varied topics related to her work and interests. She has worked with others through companies providing therapy and is guest faculty with Cactus Cancer Society. Jean provides supervision to individuals working towards clinical licensure as social workers and provides clinical consultation to those already licensed.

**Jean Rowe runs structured journal writing programs. Nothing in these program constitutes psychotherapy, nor do they establish a therapist-client relationship.**

Christina Kosyla

Christina Kosyla

Christina Kosyla is an educator, theatre artist, and accidental rare disease advocate. Her performance and directorial work has been seen in diverse venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland, and jazz festivals in Tuscany.  Since her diagnosis with a desmoid tumor in 2018, she has raised over $32,000 for the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation. She chronicles her treatment and adventures on her blog and instagram account, Girl Meets Cancer. Christina lives in New Jersey with her dog, Daisy.

Marc Korobkin

Marc joined the Cactus Cancer Society board in 2018 and is excited to be involved in this groundbreaking organization. Marc has been a tireless advocate for improving the health care system and increasing support for patients and caregivers. He has extensive volunteer and leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, including over six years at the Center for Patient Partnerships at UW-Madison, an interdisciplinary program that trains graduate and professional students in patient advocacy. He has also been a caregiver for family members with serious illnesses, including his brother Bryan, who passed away in 2016 from complications of a stem cell transplant. Marc received his JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009 and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In his free time he enjoys hiking and nature photography.

Sarah Goodell

Sarah is thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this amazing organization. She is a Senior Analyst in Digital Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at Mead Johnson Nutrition where she works on a variety of projects, from managing social media campaigns to coordinating CSR efforts. Prior to her work here, she was a Program Manager at Cancer and Careers, where she ran a number of their programs as well as coordinated social media and PR initiatives. During her years working in the cancer community, she became very passionate about supporting survivors, particularly young adults, and helping them thrive after a diagnosis. Sarah is originally from Minneapolis but currently lives in Chicago, and is an avid rollerblader, yogi, and brunch enthusiast.

Kelly Miragliotta

Kelly Miragliotta – Board Member, Event Chair

Kelly is a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor who was first diagnosed at the age of 20 while attending Rutgers University. She beat it and it came back the last semester of her senior year. Kelly balanced treatment and school while still being able to graduate on time with a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Communication. After graduation, she continued treatment until she was in remission. Kelly now leads the Customer Success team at FeeX, a growing FinTech startup. In Kelly’s free time, she enjoys running, being outdoors, and experiencing local craft beer.

As Kelly went through her cancer journey, she realized that she was the youngest person in each infusion room. She also never found any age-appropriate support groups or resources on how to navigate life after cancer. Kelly decided that she wanted to make sure young adults had age-appropriate resources during and after cancer. She found Lacuna Loft and looks forward to continuing growing this amazing organization. Kelly participates in Lacuna Loft’s programs, is part of the Young Adult Cancer Survivor Advisory Board, and is the Event Chair for the annual gala.