Christian Bullock has a professional digital marketing background despite exploring history and journalism as focuses during college. Having gone through his own cancer diagnosis, Christian communicates with other cancer patients and survivors in an empathic and understanding way because he has been there (and is there). He has a particular interest in astronomy and likes to read whenever he can.
Nick P Ross is a video producer and storyteller. He’s worked in New York, Los Angeles, and now, Denver, telling meaningful stories to inspire change and unlock pathways to empathy. His autobiographical web series, Highly Evolved Human, tells the story of his experience with cancer as a young adult (airs on SoulPancake). He’s a host of the Moth Storyslam series in Denver, and as a longtime alum of New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, he teaches improv, sketch, and storytelling at Denver’s Chaos Bloom Theatre.
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 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 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 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.
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 is a licensed clinical social worker, certified oncology social worker, and certified journal therapist with extensive experience supporting young adults affected by cancer. Her work brings together clinical practice, education, creative expression, and program development, with a particular focus on helping individuals and healthcare professionals navigate the complexities of cancer and survivorship.
An experienced facilitator, educator, and consultant, Jean develops and leads educational programs, continuing education courses, and therapeutic writing workshops. She has presented regionally, nationally, and internationally on topics including young adult oncology, journal therapy, and medical social work.
Jean maintains a private therapy practice serving residents of North Carolina and Georgia, facilitates structured journal-writing workshops nationwide, and provides clinical supervision and professional consultation to fellow social workers and healthcare professionals.
As a guest faculty member with Cactus Cancer Society, Jean brings her expertise in therapeutic writing and young adult cancer survivorship to our creative community. She facilitates our weekly 30 Minute Tune-Up journaling group and is a featured contributor and speaker in our continuing education course, The Art of Survivorship.
Learn more about Jean: Visit www.workwithjeanrowe.com to explore her work, workshops, and blog.
Interested in individual therapy? Connect with Jean through her SonderMind profile. Individual therapy is available to residents of North Carolina and Georgia only.
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 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.
