6th Annual Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill: Focusing on Ending Disparities Facing Young Women Living with Breast Cancer
May 17, 2018
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First Street, SE, Members Room, 1st Floor
Washington, DC 20540
Optional Transportation Methods to the Event:
Please find a link here that provides directions to the Library of Congress via several methods of transportation. All guests should enter the building through the Carriage entrance located on the ground floor and then proceed up to the Members Room (LJ-162). Directional signage will be displayed once inside the building.
Click here for Sponsorship package and register here.
6th Annual Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill
Hosted in Partnership with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Sponsors
Special Guests
In March 2009, after announcing her own battle with breast cancer, Wasserman Schultz introduced the Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or EARLY Act (H.R. 1740), a piece of legislation that directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and implement a national education campaign about the threat breast cancer poses to all young women, and the particular heightened risks of certain ethnic, cultural and racial groups. This bill became law as part of the Affordable Health Care Act in March, 2010.
In 2011, Rep. Wasserman Schultz joined the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, a bipartisan Members’ organization dedicated to promoting women’s economic, health, legal, and educational interests. Amongst her accomplishments is the passage of the PROTECT Our Children Act, which creates the largest law enforcement effort ever formed for the protection of children, and, the passage of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to combat childhood drowning.
She is committed to lower health care costs, improve the quality of life for our children, protect Social Security and Medicare, and provide a sensible homeland security plan to protect our citizens from the ongoing threat of terror. She continues to fight to ensure that our first responders, our local police and firefighters, have the tools they need to do their jobs. And she continues to take up the fight to give our troops and veterans the equipment and compensation they deserve. The Congresswoman is proud to call South Florida home where she resides with her family in Weston.
In 2010, she received the Congressional Black Caucus Leadership in Advocacy Award, and the Running Start “Women to Watch Award”. In October 2011, Maimah was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, a committee established by the Affordable Care Act, on which she works to develop initiatives to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer, for women under the age of 40 and those at heightened risk for developing the disease. She is regularly called upon to speak at/moderate panels on Capitol Hill, as a leader in the world of breast health, in addition to being a speaker at various leadership events focusing on women, youth, health, wellness, politics, advocacy and empowerment. Maimah has dedicated her life to transformation women around the world. She recently travelled to Antigua, on a breast health education campaign. As a native of Liberia, West Africa, she is embarking on a global women’s health campaign to educate women of color, minorities and women of all races about health and advocacy.
She is an author, and speaker, and she has appeared in various media outlets, to include O, the Oprah Magazine, Essence, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Redbook, Traditional Home Magazine and Cancer, Cure Magazine and more. She has also been featured on Fox 5, ABC 7, CBS, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC and national radio stations. In 2009, Maimah was awarded a L’Oreal Paris’ Woman of Worth award, among others. Most dear to her heart is her 12-year old daughter, Noelle. Noelle is now an advocate in her own right, hosting a national event, , called Pajama Glam Party, where she engages girls to become advocates and to have healthy lifestyles. She speaks to the media and is interviewed on her perspectives on youth advocacy, girls health, and leadership.
In 2010, Maimah published her memoir, Fearless: Awakening to my Life’s Purpose Through Breast Cancer, which was a best seller. She is also a sought after speaker, presenter and panelist. In 2013, she founded Bliss Magazine, a quarterly publication that inspires others to live their soul purpose.
Event Background
Tigerlily Foundation’s Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill was first held in 2009, in response to creating additional advocacy and awareness about the issues young breast cancer survivors faced. The Young Women’s Breast Health Day was launched after Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz signed into law the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act in 2010, which created an education and outreach campaign administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to highlight the breast cancer risks facing young women and women of higher-risk ethnic and racial backgrounds, while empowering them with the tools they need to fight the disease. The EARLY Act also targets health care providers with education and information to ensure they are better equipped to catch breast cancer in young women. The CDC has accomplished numerous objectives through the Advisory Committee, enacted to oversee the work of the EARLY Act. This work includes identifying gaps in education and awareness among young women and health care providers; working to increase the quality of life of YBCS in terms of helping them cope with unique challenges they face, including fertility preservation, and long-term survivorship challenges, implementing social media campaigns to reach young women at risk, implementing a media campaign and through giving grants to organizations focused on helping YBCS.
Event Objectives
To convene Members of Congress, staffers, advocates, breast cancer survivors, healthcare providers, national/local healthcare leaders, media, and community activists for a collaborative conversation to share the important work that is being done to impact breast cancer and young women, since the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act, spearheaded by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was passed. The event also focuses on the work that the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, national and local breast health groups have accomplished.
2018 Event Photos
2016 Event Photos
2015 Event Photos
Photos by Kipp Burgoyne Photography
Photos by The Umbrella Syndicate
2015 Event Video
Mistress of Ceremonies
Elaine Espinola is a Television Producer and Host, Podcast Host, Spokesperson and Mrs. DC America 2015. During her reign, Elaine promoted the platform, Empowerment for Women through Entrepreneurship and she continues to advocate on behalf of small businesses and for the empowerment and women and girls everywhere.
Elaine is the Producer and Host of the television show, Capital Connect with Elaine Espinola, which airs on Comcast Community Cable. The show discusses national, regional and local topics with local leaders, aimed to inspire, inform and empower viewers. As the national podcast Host for the Better Business Bureau, Elaine interviews elite entrepreneurs and organizational founders on the latest trends on a variety of consumer topics.
Elaine is a spokesperson for the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative and on the advisory board for the non-profit, Touching Heart, which teaches children the joy of giving.
Participating Organizations
Dr. David Weintritt
Michelle Bronzo, MA, LPC, CT, Oncology Therapist
In her current position, Michelle provides individual and group counseling for cancer patients and their families, helping them adjust to the wide impact a cancer diagnosis can have on the whole family system. She supports children and adolescents in the pediatric oncology program and adults in the adult oncology program.
Dr. Patricia Rodriguez, Director of Hereditary Cancer Risk Assessment Program at Virginia Cancer Specialists
Dr. Rodriguez currently heads the Virginia Cancer Specialists Hereditary Cancer Risk Assessment Program. She has been a member of the US Oncology GREAT (Genetic Risk Evaluation and Treatment Program) Executive Committee since 2013, and she regularly speaks on the subject of genetics. Dr. Rodriguez remains active in other areas of the medical community as well. She serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, is a member of the Executive Committee for the Arlington Medical Society, and is involved with the Arlington Free Clinic. Her professional memberships include the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology.
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Dr. Rodriguez speaks both fluent Spanish and French. She enjoys music and plays guitar in an Irish band.
Shawn Johnson, Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, The Metastatic Breast Cancer Project
Shay Sharpe, Shay Sharpe’s Pink Wishes
Even though this beautiful young woman doesn’t fit society’s norms, she has been featured on countless documentaries, photo shoots and media outlets around the world including the Today Show, Allure Magazine, Barcroft Media, People and Huffington Post to name a few.
Shay is also the President of Shay Sharpe’s Pink Wishes, a 501(c)3 non profit organization, founded in 2011, that educates, offers one on one peer support, advocates, restores hope, provides college scholarships and grants wishes to young women and children who have been affected by breast cancer. SSPW is based in Baltimore, Maryland but they assist women nationally.
In addition to being a community leader, volunteer, mentor and new grandmother, Shay also sits on the Stakeholder Advisory Board for the Young Women’s Initiative, a joint venture with Johns Hopkins Hospital and the CDC.
Arin Ahlum Hanson, MPH, Associate Director, Living Beyond Breast Cancer
Arin received her bachelor’s degree in peace and global studies and women’s studies from Earlham College and her master’s degree in public health in health behavior and health education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Patient Advocates
Larissa Podermanski, Blogger, Metastatically Speaking
Larissa is truly an inspiration as she refuses to allow breast cancer to redefine her joy in life. Despite lifelong ongoing treatment, Larissa continues to advocate for more funding for metastatic breast cancer research and awareness. She also embraces the beauty in each day, including the difficult ones where she is pushing through her illness and treatment. She has joined Tigerlily Foundation to share more of her unique journey.
Brittany Gregory, Tigerlily Foundation Angel Advocate
Just a year ago in May 2017, at just 21 years old, Brittany was diagnosed with Stage 2 ER+, PR+, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer. Although there was no family history of breast cancer on either side of her family, and she tested negative for BRCA, she received the surprising diagnosis requiring she and her family to quickly make treatment and lifestyle decisions. Brittany will share more about her experience as a young woman undergoing a double mastectomy, fertility preservation and chemotherapy.
Brittany’s personal experience and newfound knowledge gained throughout her journey has driven her desire to support and empower other young women enduring similar challenges with breast cancer. Brittany’s courageous first step in helping other young women was to join forces with Tigerlily Foundation as an Angel Advocate to share her unique insight and bring awareness about breast cancer in young women.
Media Partners
Photography Sponsor
A special thanks to Kendra Scott – Mosaic District for supporting Tigerlily Foundation!
Participating Organizations