We just had our inaugural Board of Directors meeting on July 29, 2022, and I just had to share some incredible wins and amazing synchronicities.
It Was Personal
For me as founder, president and acting Board Chair of the Endometrial Cancer Foundation (ECF) it was personal.
Choosing July 29 for our first extended official voting board meeting day was deliberate and personal, as it was date of my one-year cancer-free-versary…This past year, as the founder, I have turned my pain into passion and am now dedicated in service to this cause: the recently diagnosed women of our now forming global community.
We are elated to announce that as of 07/07/2022, we are officially a 501c3 designated public charity. Another coincidence? July 7th was the birthday of one of our board members’ spouse, Cath, who lost her fight to Endometrial Cancer.
We also don’t believe it was a coincidence that we received our IRS approval letter on July 15, one year exactly from the day I received the phone call with this diagnosis. It was the call that turned my life around completely.
Every member of our board has been affected by cancer through a loved one. In my case, I am a survivor/overcomer of this life-altering diagnosis, which came after two years of not feeling well and following up with doctor after doctor. We don’t want what happened to me, or Cath, to happen to anyone else. And we want to create a safe and secure place for online forums and support groups for patients, and caregivers, as well as bring the scientific community together to identify critical research and publishing opportunities in our onePEACHvoice initiative.
There is a tremendous need for public health awareness and basic education to help decrease time to diagnosis and shift outcomes in favor of possible cure. Our voting Board of Directors will meet 4 times a year for approximately 1 hour or less with ad hoc topical or voting meetings as needed.
There were chills in the air in our meeting
In our first meeting we successfully voted in our initial staff and reviewed initial plans, needs and operational budget for our new website, our onePEACHvoice global educational platform (in planning stages now and seeking corporate grant partners) as well as our podcast, Peach Pit Jam with Dr. Anne, which will be launching in September.
On behalf of the ECF, I personally would like to thank each of our board members for their ‘yes’ to this cause. This mission-driven, ready-to-help founding board is truly amazing. Let me introduce our expert board members and share some details about each of these committed, amazing individuals.
Our leadership and voting directors include:
- Dr. Anne Arvizu PharmD, FASCP, PCC: ECF Founder, President. A former fortune 500 global biotech medical information and communications executive with 25 years of experience in research and development and medical affairs. Anne is a published author, executive coach, visionary entrepreneur and public health media personality (podcaster, keynote speaker and seasoned TV guest). Unanimously voted in as CEO when funding is available.
- Debbie Boumans, ECF Director: Senior Program Director at Miami Dade Family Learning Partnership, a demonstrated leader in the non-profit space who has driven large scale campaigns for literacy. (She reminds her EC Overcomer friend about getting together for social-time.)
- Suzanne Crise, ECF Secretary and Treasurer: Extensive experience in pharma global medical Information and global medical affairs, as well as non-profit leadership in care management and client relations. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration. Unanimously voted in as Foundation Administrator/Acting CFO.
- Carole Delorme, ECF Board Director: Patient Advocate – A wife, mother, grandmother, friend and advocate for women’s health education. Her mission is to help make patients look and feel great, through healthy living and exercise. (She reminds her EC overcomer friend about self-care and balance.)
- Dan Donovan, ECF Board Director: Founder & CEO, rareLife Solutions, established Envision Pharma in 2001, serving as President through June 2011. He was also the visionary behind the creation and development of Datavision and a well-known thought leader/advocate in the rare disease space.
- Todd Eury, ECF Board Director: Founder and Publisher of Pharmacy Podcast Network, globally leading the first global podcast network about the business & profession of pharmacy, launched in 2009. He is a visionary leader with regards to content development and social media strategy.
- Jean Wolfe Powers, ECF Board Director: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and international Certified Life Coach with 40 years’ experience in trauma psychotherapy. Jean was also the former founder of non-profit organization, The Dialysis of Healing, and is bringing her expertise in mental health and caregiving to our community.
Our Initial and Medical Advisory Board Includes:
- Dr. Jaime Arvizu, MD, MPH, ECF Medical Advisory Board Chair; Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs, North America, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. with 27+ years of global medical affairs experience. (He reminds his EC Overcomer wife every day that she is loved and will stay healthy for life)
- Dr. Jennifer Marquez, PharmD, BCOP, CPGx, ECF Medical Advisory Board Member; Founder and CEO of PharmDNA, LLC, a pharmacogenomics consulting firm and VP of Arches Health group, a pharmacogenomics training company. She is a cancer chemotherapy expert.
- We are now formally recruiting new medical advisory board members to augment this list.
Here’s a picture from our first board meeting, not pictured are Carol Delorme (absent) and Todd Eury (present on the phone) and Dr. Joel Cardenas (Cleveland Clinic Florida).
Have you ever seen such happy board members who are so excited and ready to embark on this important and necessary mission? I am proud of the leadership I am surrounded with and hope you will join us in this cause, so we can truly save lives through awareness, education, and the creation of these transformational resources.
We have so many committed and supportive business, health and community leaders volunteering their time, talent, and treasure. You can even see some of our board members were wearing peach and just celebrating all the work that Anne and I have accomplished in just one year with Anne’s generous personal financial contribution to get this started. To date she has sacrificially donated over $50,000 to the cause of this startup and makes her mark as a true philanthropy leader and patient advocate.
Thank you to our initial board members, and to our advisors at The Foundation Group, and to the IRS, for helping us get our 501c3 passed so quickly because there is such a great need for getting information out to the endometrial cancer community, as they have been completely overlooked and ‘slipping-through-the-cracks’ for too long.
From now to the end of the year, our target fundraising goal is $625,000. It’s time to transform women’s lives. We can’t do this without you, so please help us meet or exceed that by donating today.