Young Women’s Advocate Now to Grow, Empower and Lead (ANGEL) Advocacy Training

ANGEL Advocacy Program

The Tigerlily Foundation is committed to mobilizing our community of young women, caregivers, and loved ones to transform lives and recognize that we must Advocate Now to Grow, Empower & Lead through the ANGEL Advocacy Program. The ANGEL Advocacy Program has two foundational initiatives to mobilize this community:

The ANGEL Advocacy Program provides comprehensive training for women of color between the ages of 21 and 50, who have been impacted by breast cancer, either by being diagnosed themselves or who have had a loved one touched by the disease.

In the U.S., breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in their 20s and 30s, and Black women are diagnosed at younger ages and with more aggressive types of breast cancer than any other group. Through this program, advocates become more knowledgeable about breast cancer, and the disparities that affect this population, they also become empowered to create change, learn how to become better self-advocates, and advocate on behalf of individuals and their greater community to make system-wide impacts.

Our ANGEL Advocates use their time and voices to make an impact by speaking at events, being showcased in the media, advocating with policymakers, speaking on panels, sharing information on breast health and advocacy through their social media channels and engaging healthcare professionals. Many ANGEL Advocates are directly involved with developing our programs and partnering with research and scientific communities to ensure clinical trials, studies, programs and content are relevant to their population.

Our ANGEL Advocates are making a powerful impact in our breast cancer communities, locally, nationally and globally.

Currently Accepting Applications for the ANGEL Advocacy Program

We are currently accepting applications from women between the ages of 21 to 50, who have been impacted by breast cancer to participate in the upcoming ANGEL Advocacy Program training cohort.

With a focus on ending breast cancer disparities largely impacting the Black community, we are currently conducting targeted outreach to this community and strongly encouraging young Black women in the following areas to apply to become a Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate:

California: Alameda County
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia County
District of Columbia: Washington, D.C.
Louisiana: Orleans Parish County
Michigan: Oakland County

Click here and apply to become a Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate today!

Katrece Nolen Program Manager, National ANGEL Advocacy

Survivor of Stage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Diagnosed at Age 38

Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Advocate Now to Grow, Empower & Lead’ (ANGEL) is at the forefront of the charge to transform the way Black women all over the nation interact with MBC patients, policymakers, providers and the scientific community. The MBC ANGEL program focuses on Black women who are disproportionately impacted by MBC yet often go underrepresented in clinical trials and the conversation on the unique needs of women living with MBC. In addition, Black women die at a 40% higher death rate than their White counterparts. MBC ANGEL Advocate education and advocacy program uses a three-pronged approach towards ending breast cancer disparities by engaging young women of color that are living with metastatic breast cancer or community members that are committed to breast cancer advocacy, health care providers and policymakers in the 20 cities with the highest breast cancer death rates for Black women.

In 2019, Tigerlily launched the MBC Disparities Initiative (see objectives below). First, with our MBC Disparities Listening Summit, then the MBC ANGEL (Advocate Now to Grow, Empower & Lead) Advocate training, the Young Women’s MBC Disparities Alliance, and #ListenUpMBC Fireside Chat at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

MBC Disparities Initiative’s Objectives

Build a global platform that will end breast cancer disparities among young women of color in our lifetime.
Facilitate conversations with MBC patients, experts, and partners to educate young women of color on MBC disparities.
Demonstrate the importance of access to innovations in MBC treatments, including clinical trials for women of color, record the barriers and misperceptions faced by young women of color.
Create partnerships, tools, content, messages, and methods to lower Black breast cancer mortality rates.
Mobilize a network of diverse MBC ambassadors and experts to partner with Tigerlily on how to best meet the needs of their community.
In 2020, Tigerlily’s advocates collaborated with diverse stakeholder communities, and advanced recommendations, which included engaging Black women in advocacy, leveraging social media, and participating in scientific conferences. We shared the importance of access to innovations in MBC treatments, including clinical trials and genetic testing for Black women towards achieving our goal through action and collaboration.

The MBC Angel Program consists of 10 online modules, which include exploring the role of social determinants of health in MBC disparities and outcomes for Black women, guidelines, access to innovations, social media mobilization, healthy behaviors, and patient empowerment. This program also leverages evidenced-based, award-winning models to empower patients to create partnerships, tools, content, messages, and methods through education and advocacy to lower breast cancer mortality rates for Black women. targeting the 20 cities with the highest breast cancer death rates. The 3-part program consists of MBC ANGELs, Empower!: recruitment and training; MBC ANGELs, Educate!: community outreach and provider education; and MBC ANGELs, Mobilize!: advocacy and social media activation.

MBC ANGELs, Empower! Modeled after the evidenced-based award-winning cancer lay health advisor programs DC Pink Divas and Save our Sisters in North Carolina, the MBC ANGEL program consists of a ten-month training that first recruits and then empowers 20 women with skills and knowledge about social determinants of health, disparities, health equity, breast cancer risk factors, screening, treatment, healthy behaviors, and patient empowerment. This 20-hour, 10-part training walks women through the cancer continuum of care stages by covering topics from screening to end of life care. MBC ANGEL advocates gain new insight into breast cancer while integrating their personal experiences into further education, empowerment, and understanding of the healthcare system and barriers to care. MBC ANGEL advocates also receive peer support through MBC ANGEL Advisors who are seasoned patient advocates that live in and are active leaders in the 20 cities with the greatest breast cancer death rates for Black women Activities include two-way dialogues with nationally renowned experts, oncologists, and geneticists with materials and a social media content curated by and for young women of color.

MBC ANGELs, Educate! Upon completion of the training, each of the 20 MBC ANGEL Advocates commit to build partnerships with at least three organizations from their 20 cities and reach out to women in their community. MBC ANGEL advocates will team with our award-winning patient advocacy team to host more than 60 Local MBC education and outreach activities, develop more than 12 MBC advocate resources, and participate in over 20 conferences. MBC ANGEL Advocates will identify, plan, and implement breast cancer education activities through community networks in which they belong, such as church, civic, employer, and social groups. This experience enables participants to convert their understanding into practical application by creating educational materials and events that are culturally competent and catered explicitly to women residing in their respective cities. MBC ANGEL Advocates will lead at least three activities such as local #ListenUpMBC Summit, lunch and learns, roundtable discussions, and engage at local support groups and social activities to educate young women of color in their city.

MBC ANGELs, Mobilize! A key issue faced by Black women is fear of the health system, distrust, and provider insensitivity. And while black women die over 40% more from metastatic breast cancer and are diagnosed younger and with more aggressive types of breast cancer, studies show many believe that it is an “old white women’s disease”. To combat these myths, barriers, and inequities, advocacy work with policymakers and social media engagement is vital. MBC ANGELs will engage with policymakers through our Young Women’s Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance to address issues in the health care system that can be improved through dialogue, education, and subsequent policy change. Based on feedback obtained from MBC ANGEL Advocates, our demographic-specific #ListenUpMBC Summit, Fireside Chat, and Twitter Chat to date have garnered over 16 million impressions. Past #MBCLivesHere social media campaigns and online resources addressing cultural sensitivity and specific barriers engaged advocates to show how MBC has no boundaries or borders, impacting every community and how we can take action to achieve breast health equity for all. Ultimately, policymakers will gain insight into the experience of young Black women to end institutional and health care system disparities, and MBC ANGEL Advocates will gain firsthand knowledge to become effective patient advocates. Additionally, MBC ANGEL Advocates receive access to meetings with industry leaders, annual scientific convenings, and opportunities to attend provider-led training and educational events to foster knowledge exchange and reverse innovation.

Interested in becoming a Tigerlily ANGEL? Let’s get in touch. e-mail TLFANGEL@tigerlilyfoundation.org