Deltra Kroemer

Deltra Kroemer

Deltra is a Connecticut based home-educating mama of 5 amazing girls who she strives to raise with cultural and health awareness. 

She’s a chain tea drinker, wig hoarder, and lover of singing loudly and dancing unabashedly. 

Since being diagnosed with Triple Negative MBC de novo in 2019, she has focused on thriving through education, advocacy, connecting and radical self-care. She is passionate about mental and emotional wellness, creative expression as a means of coping, community building and connecting BIPOC women with people and spaces that can care for our whole selves. She is a member of Cactus Cancer Society’s YACS Advisory Board, the inaugural class of For the Breast of Us Baddie Ambassadors, and Program Coordinator for Project Life MBC.

Mary Clare Bietila

Mary Clare Bietila

Mary Clare is a speaker, writer & educator based in Chicago. She was diagnosed with AML Leukemia in 2014 and again in 2017 after a stem cell transplant.

She is a proud member of the WomanLab Advisory Board at The University of Chicago and serves as an adviser to the Cancer Support Community on the AML patient experience.

Mary Clare is passionate about advocating for young adults with cancer. Her areas of interest include: sex + cancer, parenting with cancer, clinical trial access, humor as a disruptor and the patient as artist.

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.

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.