MY LIFE Matters: Clinical Trials Issue - Winter 2023 - 43

ADVOCACY My Life
What is one of the biggest
differences that you see
in yourself as an advocate
from then to now?
It almost feels as though I was a different
person; the beginning of my advocacy
journey feels like a different lifetime.
For many of us advocates, it can feel like
a complete transformation to a new self
that we did not know existed. You learn
new information, new skills, and find
hidden strengths within yourself that keep
evolving, it's a beautiful transformation of
stepping into our Power of One. It took me
almost 10 years starting at the age of 17 to
learn and go through that transformation.
Now, I am not afraid to speak up for myself
or others. I have found my voice and I feel
more confident in using my voice than I
did before.
One of the most exciting parts of Tigerlily
to me is our Advocate Now to Grow,
Empower and Lead (ANGEL) Advocacy
training because it's like a fast track to
that transformation that took me years
to achieve. Patient advocates have access
to this free training to learn the basics of
breast health and breast cancer, clinical
trials, disparities (and issues that exist
in this space), and the different types of
advocacy work that you can participate
in. After being empowered through this
training, these patient advocates, or
ANGELs, are connected to platforms
through Tigerlily to amplify their voices
and effect real change. Watching this
newly formed community of advocates
and connecting through the training
sessions, Twitter chats, Pull UP a Seat,
Hill Day, Pure Cat Classes, and all the
other ways we connect in peer support,
community, and advocacy makes me
realize how grateful I am to be a part
of it all. I extend a warm invitation for
everyone reading this to join me. I have
seen how advocacy can impact people's
lives nationwide and even globally and
look forward to how we can shape the
future of cancer care together.
What are you excited for
that's upcoming, what should
people keep an eye out for,
and how can we get involved?
I invite and encourage everyone to go
to the HEAL COE page on Tigerlily's
website to learn more about the policies
we are currently supporting and join our
efforts by writing letters to your representatives
to let them know what policies
are important to you and your communities.
We have a great system set up
where you can just put in your address
and a template will pop up that you can
edit with your personal story (or leave
as-is) to send your specific representatives
a letter. Start with the DIVERSE
Trials Act and check out
the other
opportunities for letter writing as well.
We will also be holding our next annual
Hill Day in 2023, so keep an eye out
for that invite early next year-I would
love to meet you in person there. I also
encourage everyone to become a part of
our new RACE Alliance by taking the
#InclusionPledge and staying in the loop
through the RACE Alliance of advocacy
efforts at Tigerlily. Lastly, I encourage
anyone interested in starting their advocacy
journey or looking to take their
advocacy work to the next level to join
our ANGEL Advocacy Program today.
There's no wrong way to get plugged into
the great work Tigerlily is doing! l
We are excited to launch the Tigerlily
Foundation Health Equity Advocacy
and Leadership (HEAL) Policy Center
Of Excellence (COE)
Tigerlily has a strong history of advocating for impact by driving policy making to create
equity for patients. Through Tigerlily's HEAL Policy COE, we plan to further focus
this work to achieve health equity and end disparities. The HEAL Policy COE will
focus on systemic changes through policy at the local, state, and federal level to:
End barriers to access and receive quality, equitable care for all.
Lead innovation through patient-leadership.
Achieve health equity and eliminate disparities in breast cancer.
To learn more and join our collective action, visit us at
tigerlilyfoundation.org/HEAL or email HEAL@tigerlilyfoundation.org
@tigerlilycares
tigerlily_foundation
@tigerlilyfoundation #HEALCOE
MY LIFE MATTERS
CLINICAL TRIALS ISSUE WINTER 2023
43

https://www.tigerlilyfoundation.org/race-alliance/ https://www.tigerlilyfoundation.org/inclusionpledgeforblackwomen/ https://share.hsforms.com/1JqmuaM9LTkCKpky6XW5OWw4vp3y https://www.tigerlilyfoundation.org/heal-policy-center-of-excellence/ http://www.tigerlilyfoundation.org/HEAL

MY LIFE Matters: Clinical Trials Issue - Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MY LIFE Matters: Clinical Trials Issue - Winter 2023