About Us
Who are we?
Lenora Williams is a seasoned nonprofit strategist with more than 20 years of experience providing consulting to emerging and startup nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and to NGOs globally in; England, Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, ... She has directed, initiated and implemented audit controls and procedures and managed operating budgets of up to $60 million and $40 million in capital project budgets. Ms. Williams’ humanitarian work includes; being a United Nations Association of the USA Director and a Delegate to the United Nations for Human Rights for girls and women and currently an advocate for African American women with breast cancer.
Lenora Williams-Omenka
“To whom much is given, much is expected.” In the year of 2016
it was a time of tremendous change, insight and renewal as
Regina received her diagnosis of breast cancer. Through the
grace of God and with angels that God placed along her path during surgery, healing and recovery she was given the gift of time, opportunity to advocate and educate others about her experience.
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Regina’s a breast cancer survivor and her entire life has been devoted to family, community, church, mentorship and
connecting others with resources to enhance and enrich their
lives. She has enjoyed meeting a multitude of people who
shared their stories and knowledge which I was able to
incorporate in my learning process to heal and reciprocate
sharing information and resources with others who were
recently diagnosed. This journey has created a multitude of
new connections and contacts in the health awareness and
self-care community which I have had an opportunity to incorporate in my network. The alignment of all that works for possibilities. She has a background in political science, public administration, project management, and consulting. She has
been a board member of Oakland Chapter, National Coalition
of 100 Black Women; Eden Rose Chapter, The Links,
Incorporated; and SPAAT (Academic Excellence/College Preparation). She has also been Former Club President of Piedmont Montclair Rotary, International; Founding President
of SF Chapter, Blacks In Government; Former President of ANO Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc; and Executive Vice President of Oakland Chapter, Jack & Jill of America.
Regina Guillory
Wei-ting is the Associate Director of Community Partnerships at the Office of Community Engagement within the Stanford School of Medicine. Prior to Stanford, she was the Nutrition, Family & Consumer Sciences Advisor in the University of California Cooperative Extension System (UCCE), serving San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties, with an administrative assignment as County Director of UCCE San Mateo/San Francisco.
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Trained as a sociologist, her scholarly pursuits have focused on how social inequality
shapes socially disadvantaged individual’s life chances, family experiences, and health outcomes from a life course perspective. Wei-ting received her BA in Sociology from the University of California Davis, her MA and PhD in Sociology from John Hopkins University.
Wei-ting Chen Ph.D., MA
Stanford-OCE
Lisa Goldman Rosas, Ph.D. MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and the Department of
Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford School of Medicine. An epidemiologist by training, Dr. Goldman Rosas’ research focuses on addressing disparities in chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, and cancer among racial/ethnic minority families.
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This research features rigorous quantitative and qualitative methodologies, participatory
qualitative approaches, and shared leadership
with patient and community partners.
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She is passionate about integrating patients, caregivers, community organizations, and other
key stakeholders in the research process in order
to affect the greatest improvements in health and well-being. As a reflection of this passion, Dr. Goldman Rosas serves as the Faculty Director for the School of Medicine Office of Community Engagement and the Stanford Cancer Institute Community Outreach and Engagement Program.
In these roles, she supports other faculty and patient and community partners to develop sustainable and meaningful partnerships to
support transformative research. In addition to research, she teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has a special focus on increasing diversity in biomedical research.
Lisa Goldman-Rosas
Stanford-OCE
With funding from the Stanford Cancer Institute in 2018, the Stanford School of Medicine Office of Community Engagement (OCE) convened a gathering of African American women with the goal of raising awareness about breast cancer and breast cancer research. Approximately 40 women met on a regular basis over a two-year period and engaged in the discourse. Community meetings and gathering were held by the participants within their respective networks to educate African American women on breast cancer including screening, treatment, resources, and storytelling. After the first two years, six of the women resolved to continue working to address breast cancer disparities in the African American community and formed Black Ladies Advocating for Cancer Care (BLACC). BLACC developed a formal partnership with the OCE to pursue additional funding to support their efforts.
In 2020 this community-academic collaboration (BLACC & OCE) applied for, and subsequently received, a grant from the California Breast Cancer Research Program, administered by the A of California Office of the President. The project focused on developing a peer navigation program specifically for African American women with breast cancer, and survivors. The partnership uses a community-based participatory research approach whereby members of BLACC and OCE are equitable partners and collaborate in all phases of the research. In alignment with this approach, the partnership successfully formed a Community Advisory Board comprised of African American community leaders and breast cancer survivors that met monthly where presenters shared information and engaged in dialogues on various topics related to breast cancer treatment and care. Additionally, members of BLACC were trained in qualitative research methodologies and have conducted storytelling sessions with African American breast cancer survivors and their caregivers to better understand. BLACC and OCE are collaborating to code and analyze the transcripts from the storytelling sessions to uncover the key strengths and needs of African American women and their caregivers to inform the peer navigation program.
Ms. Tuttle is an independent consultant and owns Marketing, Management & Health Care Consulting. Her Leadership and management focus includes transition management, Board Development, and capacity building. She has held numerous Interim Executive Director positions throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Her professional career included the position of Director, National Accounts in Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region.
Training and capacity building sessions have included Strategic Planning, Fund Development and Resources, Strength-Based Performance Teams, Board Development, Board Retreats, and Leadership Management. Although she consults independently she has partnered with PROCEED in New Jersey, CompassPoint, in San Francisco, and Henry E. Jones and Associates in Chicago. She is an active member of Saint Benedict Catholic Church, The Diocese of Oakland Racial Justice Task Force and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She completed her Ph.D. in Health Services
Administration with a minor in Public Health Policy from Walden University. She holds an MBA in Health Services Administration with a minor in Marketing from Golden Gate University.
Chiquita Tuttle, Ph.D.
Juanita Waugh
Juanita Waugh is a survivor/advocate of breast cancer and a voice for women in breaking the shame and fear that immobilizes women. Her commitment to this journey begins with her own battle against breast cancer back in 2005 when she was in search of support, empowerment, and hope. She longed to speak with other women who were battling the same disease and felt alienated.
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Grateful for her full recovery, she became an advocate in the fight against breast cancer becoming involved in various organizations that prioritize women's health and encourage diversity and access to resources. She has been the leader of the cancer support program titled “Journey of Hope” with Glad Tidings International, which is a faith-based organization since 2018. The program seeks to provide support to women as they navigate the many paths of treatment, support, and recovery from the devastating impacts of breast cancer.
Juanita helps women navigate the breast cancer landscape, by supporting them through treatment, information gathering, and access to services that make a difference in early detection and ultimately affects survival rate.
She has 33 years of service in the health insurance industry focusing on benefits for hospitals, medical offices, providers, and member’s pensions. She also holds an LVN nursing license and a degree in Health Science. Her passion and professional experience allow her to fulfill with excellence, this call to service.
Starla has long been a champion of social justice, her chosen path one of service. Her personal philanthropy is a contribution of tireless dedication to empower individuals to change their lives-- as a community advocate, activist, and human services professional.
Her desire to educate the public on the power of the connected and engaged community is immense. She has over 15 years experience as a community advocate and activist where she has primarily focused on the intersections between the social determinants of health, public policy formation, and health disparities. Her advocacy efforts with Berkeley’s city leadership led to funding for Sisters Together Empowering Peers (STEP)- a peer led community group, which later integrated with the newly formed nonprofit Healthy Black Families, Inc-- of which she is a co-founder. Starla earned her BA in Sociology, and her Masters in Public Administration at California State University, East Bay.
Starla Gay, MPA
Taylor graduated in 2016 Magna Cum Laude with a
BA in Liberal Arts, with a Concentration on International Studies and Japanese Language from Soka University of America.
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After graduating, she attended Columbia University
in New York City for her post-baccalaureate premedical program. She completed 1 year in NYC
and then finished her post-bacc program at CSU
East Bay in Hayward, CA in 2019. Since then, Taylor
has spent her gap years conducting research. She spent a couple of years in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Catherine Blish Lab. Now, Taylor works under the Stanford Primary Care
Division at Presence 5 doing qualitative research on health equity. She also works full-time for Roots
Clinic in Oakland, CA co-developing a Cut The Hypertension program for Black men in the Bay
Area. She is an alumnus from various programs like MiMentor and Stanford L.E.A.P. She is an advocate
for African American women with breast cancer.
Taylor has joined the SHC Cancer Patient Advisory Council for all of the East Bay Area in a partnership with Alameda Health Alliance. She continues to volunteer in her free time with Lifelong Medical
Care in East Oakland. Taylor plans to continue her education, her goal is to attend medical school and become an oncologist.
Taylor Hollis
“ And so we were all sitting around trying to figure out how who could help in in what way and so just
to, you know, when I think back and thought about that, until now, I think back of all of those things
that had to be considered, they sounded like little things but they had long term effects.” - Caregiver
Our Mission
We envision a world where African American women with breast cancer receive equal access to health care, education, and support with the goal of eliminating breast cancer disparities.
Our Vision
We envision a world without breast cancer inequalities for African American women.
​“My oldest sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and at that time, because of our community
I knew very little because she didn't talk about it, because that's our community. So, I ended up
having to contact her, then, to ask her to give me more information because I had been diagnosed, and
then she shared a little with me, yes.” - Breast Cancer Survivor
