Susan G. Komen for the Cure Announces Members of New National Advisory Council for Young Women

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Announces Members of New National Advisory Council for Young Women

Members Will Focus on Breast Health and Breast Cancer Issues, Help Organization Engage Next Generation in Breast Cancer Fight

DALLAS - June 25, 2007 - Susan G. Komen for the Cure has announced members of its newly formed Young Women's National Advisory Council, or YW.

Along with another recently formed Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Persons National Advisory Council, or LGBT, YW joins four other Komen national advisory groups developed to help the organization address gaps in breast health and breast cancer research, education, treatment and screening pertaining to specific population groups.

National advisory councils
The other national advisory councils include the African American National Advisory Council (AANAC), the National Hispanic Latina Advisory Council (NHLAC), the Asian American Pacific Islander National Advisory Council (AAPINAC) and the American Indian and Alaskan Native National Advisory Council (AIANNAC).

Advisory council members, who are selected on the basis of nominations and come from all over the nation, help Komen plan strategies to increase awareness and decrease disparities in breast cancer mortality rates in specific population groups. Members serve for a period of three years.

Providing breast health information to younger women
"While breast cancer is thought to be a disease that develops primarily in older women, younger women can and do get it, and when they do, it is often very aggressive. Our Young Women's National Advisory Council will be very helpful to Komen in helping us to find new and exciting ways to engage with younger women, providing them with breast health and breast cancer information that is relevant to them and where they are in their lives," said Susan Carter, Komen's senior advisor, office of the president, who serves as facilitator for the organization's advisory councils.

The new members of Komen's Young Women's National Advisory Council are:

Lindsay Avner, 24, Assistant Brand Manager, Unilever, Chicago, Illinois
Dikla Benzeevi, 30, Breast Cancer and Patient Advocate, Studio City, California
Nikia Hammonds-Blakely, 29, Assistant Director of Marketing/Alumni Relations Coordinator, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Crown Point, Indiana
Davina Heredia, 19, Teens for the Cure, El Paso, Texas
Samantha Knox, 21, President of Colleges Against Cancer, Allendale, Michigan
Bridget Mooney, 23, Recruiting Coordinator, Event 360, Allston, Massachusetts
Ashle Stratton, 26, Public Relations Coordinator, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas
Sarah Stumbar, 22, Community Health Scholars Fellow, New York, New York
Megan Sussman, 21, Student Director of "Cal in Berkeley" Internship Program, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Elissa Thorner, 24, Research Scientist/Director of Outreach and Recruitment, National Institute of Drug Abuse, Mt. Airy, Maryland.
Tarsha White, 25, Pediatric Nurse, Novapro Staffing, Washington, D.C.