Just4Cancer : Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Platform Fighting Financial toxicity of Cancer : Journey

Our Journey

While working for the University of Virginia Medical System (UVa) back in 2006, I kept thinking to myself How could I make an impact in the lives of cancer patients beyond what I had been doing already? As I saw patients each day for radiation or chemotherapy all of varying ages, each brought me back years earlier to the day when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Some of the families had relocated their lives so they could reside close to a treatment hospital. Others had made the long commute to the office each session for the same. But each of those visits required money, time, sacrifice, and dedication from friends and family members. Emotional and financial costs were steep not only for the patient but also for their loved ones.

A spark of an idea

In 2011, several years after leaving UVa, I had an idea. What if I could create a platform that might bridge the gap and broaden cancer awareness across various parts of the world while simultaneously helping those affected by cancer—at least financially.

When my mother was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer years earlier, my family endured tremendous financial hardship to cover both treatment and post treatment needs and to maintain a positive quality of life. So a platform like this would've helped alleviate some of that burden.

As I wrote and refined this concept over the next few months, I started to envision the initial financial benefit—a means for pointing families toward resources like foundations for financial assistance. So simply listing those organizations on a website would have sufficed. At this stage, I named the platform iyCare, and hired Ecstasoft, a development firm based in India, to build the platform.

I travelled to India in 2012 to participate in a working session with Estasoft's management and team. This was my first trip to India, and I was excited to work with a team that was just as excited about the project as I was. Soon we were meeting daily, with work sessions running from 9 a.m. through 8 p.m. to layout plans. When I flew home, I was hopeful and excited to continue our collaboration across continents. We'd made great strides, and I renamed the business IYCAIRRE. But shortly thereafter, Ecstasoft folded and a new owner assumed responsibility. This I consider our first setback.

Ecstasoft's new owner chose to merge that company with his own, San Software, and assigned our project to a new team. This meant two programmers who had been working on the project, Bummuraj and Santosh, had left and a new programmer, Tamil, would take over. The same talented web designer, Siraj, would continue working with us through the transition.

Development is delayed

In 2013 we refined the platform name once more to Zhleet, and I decided to return to India as work had not progressed as anticipated. Specifically, there was no clear project management structure and there had been little coordination. After my visit, the management team assigned Raj as our new Project Manager to oversee development. But I needed to visit again that year after learning management had no interest in seeing the project through to completion given they'd made so much money from it. As the year came to an end, we were offered incomplete work—ending our business relationship with San Software. This would be our second setback.

In 2014, we opened discussions with SoftHouse Inc., a development firm based in Romania. The company's owner, Ionut, knew Tatiana, a Marketing Specialist I'd worked with previously. SoftHouse Inc. made a lot of promises and started out well. But they were unable to deliver on those promises and failed to provide us with sufficient project communication. In December of 2014 when the company was expected to deliver our completed project, management ceased responding to emails. Deadlines were missed and the job was never finished. In the end, the company quietly changed their business name to Softcartons and refused to refund payment, though it was stipulated in their contract terms. This was our third setback, one that was difficult both emotionally and financially.

In June of 2014, my son was delivered while the project was struggling. It soon became challenging to juggle both fatherhood and a full-time job along with a dream I had for helping others afflicted by cancer. But I still tried, naming my son Zhyle, coined after the business name ZhLEET meaning ‘the dream that will never die'. By year end, I faced one more obstacle, divorce—making my day to day difficult on many fronts. Still I remained confident that the dream would never die despite thousands of dollars spent and no product to show for it. This ushered in the fourth phase of the project and our work with Alfredo.

In 2015, we hired Alfredo to work on Project ZHLEET. Alfredo opted to build the platform using WordPress, which was not suitable technology for this type of project. So the technology became an obstacle. On the day the project was slated for delivery, Alfredo failed to check his laptop in like he'd promised. So we were left with no product and no legal backing as recourse to claim the development work for which we'd paid. After this fourth major setback, having invested so much money and down to our last penny, we shifted into the next chapter of our adventure—a much needed break for the month of December.

But three months later, I picked up the project once more. Read more

Re-evaluating the concept

Revisiting the project, I decided to make a few changes and reevaluate the concept. The first change was a tilt toward image identification, specifically to expand awareness of those affected by cancer. This could be accomplished, I thought, through fashion shows and each show participant could accumulate points online. To align with this new direction, I renamed the business Model4Cancer, setting out to hire a new team to work with us. This time, any company selected would need to provide three US-based references. Narrowing the field, we signed a contract with NCPL, Inc. in April of 2016. By the end of the month, we'd already received the architectural platform for the new project.

As the platform was designed, we also brought others on board who could help in achieving our vision. Our first focus was fundraising and event planning. So we solicited an event planner and a development director to help in securing sponsorship funds. The first proposal came in from Michael, who brought immense experience in attracting sponsorship funds. But Michael wasn't quite as familiar with the goal we were trying to accomplish. So we considered Alexandro who, based in New York, branched out solo after working as part of a larger team. But after explaining our concept and what we were hoping to achieve along with our work-in-progress website, Alexandro stopped responding.

So onward to Consuela, who was based in California. But Consuela wasn't able to grasp what we were trying to accomplish even after multiple conversations. She didn't connect the important relationship between cancer and fashion, asking if we'd obtained permission from large cancer charities to carry out this project—something that wouldn't have been necessary.

Subsequently, we interviewed Kristen, who was based in Salt Lake City and who, too, didn't have enough confidence to stand behind our project. Not grasping our concept, she saw Facebook and YouTube as competitors. And though she didn't turn out to be the person for the job, she did change my outlook on some aspects, bringing me back to the drawing board. This became a major turning point.

Fashion forward

Ultimately hiring Alana, based in Maryland, we were able to bring to the organization her solid background and proven track record for raising millions of dollars in sponsorship funds. Alana immediately got our concept and was eager to help. Simultaneously, we were looking to hire an event planner with experience in fashion show production. For this role, we found Yeka based in Arizona who brought exceptional experience in fashion, particularly as a fashion lecturer. The two were set to collaborate with one another as Yeka onboarded one more person, Grace, a student looking to intern with us as back office administrator and social media manager. Soon Yeka came to Las Vegas to view potential sites for fashion events.

Our working visit was positive and productive, with development efforts right on track for the social site. But eventually that progress began to lag, with our small development team simply unable to keep up with the scope of work required. Still after talking with Kristen, my black board visit began to take effect and our overall business voice began to improve as we reduced the fashion focus in favor of fundraising. But with this slight refinement and with a website still in development, Yeka dropped out followed by Grace and Alana. Their contributions, though, were enormous and provided a great deal of insight on aspects I had not considered previously. So moving forward, we repurposed our strategy and transformed the company into a full-blown fundraising service for families affected by cancer. This would be enhanced by a fashion undertone to boost image, confidence, and awareness. But we really needed a visible key differentiator from established websites right at the outset. So this became our top focus.

To this point, our ups and downs had not deterred us from our original goal of creating a viable platform to help families affected by cancer and to reduce the financial and economic burden across geographic boundaries. We'd invested so much time and money already, and we'd gone too far to quit. While the finish line was far ahead, it was still within sight. But we were also moving into 2017 with little to no funds, leaving no other option but to sell real property or cash out my 401K to finance development. As daunting as that might have felt, for some reason, it never deterred from the goal of making that dream a reality. Read more

Micro-investors contribute $150K.

I next opened a conversation with a friend of mine, Heine, who had been building a rebate platform called privymo (later changed to hiipe.me). His app would provide smartpoints for chat, talk, sharing, and browsing. Daily interactions became points that could win prizes and discounts from participating businesses. Soon he was introducing me to a concept he developed that raised more than $400K from friends and family.

So we collaborated to restructure his fundraising apparatus to suit Model4Cancer, and small donations started to come in from friends and family—with investments made for as little as $1,500 in exchange for a stake in the business. With micro-investors and cash flow rolling, the platform could now allow anyone who believed in the concept to play a role. By December of 2018, the start-up had earned $150K in investments, helping tremendously in further development and marketing.

In April of 2017, on a stretched budget, we decided to shoot a low budget video to launch the Model4cancer platform. Heine, who'd worked with a team of students from New Mexico Highland University, introduced me to his student contact, Patrice, who acted as a project manager for the full production team. We agreed to pay Patrice, and Patrice would pay the others. But we soon learned that those funds never reached team members. Fast forward through three more bills and we'd paid for a job that was never delivered. When I contacted Heru about the issue, he too had now been cheated in the same manner. Not knowing Patrice's character at the outset and feeling responsible, Heru took it upon himself to correct the situation and promised to ensure the work would be delivered.

By the end of 2017, having been active on Linkedin, I had accumulated more than 10,000 connections and followers. One of those contacts was Steve Zamzow, a retired American Cancer Society executive, who sent a supportive message through the platform, which was a great sign coming from someone of his stature within the industry. We next scheduled a call and, during our conversation, it was clear Steve was someone I could trust and would work well with. He knew the industry and the contacts, soon joining as our first advisory board member. New members were recruited afterward based on their passion and interest in fighting the financial impact of cancer, the contributions they could make to the business, and how much time they could invest.

Securing a name and domain

In December of 2017, seeing what we needed to achieve, a decision was made to revisit the name once more. We wanted our business name to reflect everything the platform represented. And Heine was the one who, during brainstorming, said: "What about Just4Cancer? That was it. After checking, the domain was available and we wasted no time in securing it.

The following January, our concept caught the attention of Becky Olson, Host of Voice America on the Breast Friends Cancer Support Radio Network, or breastfriends.org. The show asked us to become a featured guest for Voice America, speaking on the economic impact of cancer on families. So, we gladly accepted. The interview, hosted by Becky and Sharon Henifin, focused not only on the financial impact but also on my background as founder and how I was able to use a difficult situation to help others in need.

By February of 2018, we set out to recruit others who could help our organization advance. We were particularly interested in teaming up with a marketing professional who could assist with our go-to-market strategy. And while I was in Atlanta attending a work function the week of February 14, I had the pleasure of connecting with Alexandra, who brought an impressive background in the field. She was excited to learn about our concept and her experience was a great match for the role. Feeling she was ideal, she sent a few proposals along with research analysis within days. And while our intent was in the right place and our excitement was high, her services were going to be $5000 per month. With the project being in start-up mode, we were not able to work together.

A go-to-market strategy

A week after the deal with Alexandra collapsed, we scheduled a call with Barry, who responded to our request for proposal. He brought years of marketing experience and had led several go-to-market strategies and start-ups, the most recent being everythingfoods.com. Plus his approach was more mechanical, which I appreciated. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the professional we needed, so we teamed up with him and began work immediately. By May of 2018, we'd met in Orange County, California, conducting a working session at Chapman University to brainstorm various aspect of the business. It was during this meeting that we began calling sponsors "donors” on our platform to simplify. We carved out a plan to guide the business into launch. We also discussed social media, and he suggested a social marketing firm with which he already had a trusted relationship. That is how Hawke Media came into the picture.

Brainstorming sessions continued weekly as we planned various avenues for bringing the concept to market. By January of 2019, Hawke Marketing came on board and assigned Molly to engage on social media. At that time, Just4Cancer had attracted 200 loyal Facebook followers. In addition to weekly meetings with Barry and Hawke Media, I continued to work with the development team each evening to channel updates to marketing and social before conducting a formal scrum meeting on Monday night. Life was hectic, sleep scarce, and my days were booked well into the night after I'd come home from my day job. This soared to nearly 20 working hours a day at critical points. But I was doing what I loved, and this only fueled my motivation. Because success would come in two phases. The first would be the launch of Just4Cancer.com to the general public, and the second would be the platform's work as a living witness once Just4Cancer was in use globally and helping families in need. To achieve both would require continuous work.

Our first digital fashion show

In December of 2018, we launched our first digital fashion show, which was an online space where families affected by cancer could share dressed-up photos for entrance into our digital competition. Numerous participants took part, with prizes awarded to Gwen Ngu, Ruben Vavrecan, Dr. Tameka Ellington, Zuri Bracy, La Keisha Walker-Sheeley, Cindy Lavene, and Daisy Achidi.

Ashley Giza, a thyroid cancer survivor, soon reached out to express her desire to participate as an artist. From her, the concept of art and the therapeutic relationship between art and cancer was incorporated into the business plan. Ashley won our first art competition followed by Nanci Williamson. Competitions were bringing like-minded people together from remote locations so they could exchange stories and gain a sense of fulfillment and well being. Read more

Just4Cancer joins Association of Cancer Executives (ACE)

A large and essential part of business is always networking. So in November of 2018, I attended the International Oncology Leadership Conference in Milan on behalf of Just4Cancer. Conference attendees included global oncology professionals who were part of the common community served including patients, survivors, and families. After the Milan meeting, Just4Cancer became a member of the IOLC Planning Committee and member of the membership and vendor committees of the Association of Cancer Executives.

Defining our mission and vision

Oftentimes we came close to writing our mission and vision. But we never could get it right because It never had the simple and direct message we hoped to pass along to the public. While attending a corporate meeting in December of 2018, the president of the company mentioned their mission and vision statement more than three times. It was a simple and direct statement with tremendous impact, and it sparked an idea of my own. Soon I'd drafted and redrafted, finalizing our mission and vision statements as follows.

Mission: Fighting the financial impact of cancer on families and boosting image.
Vision: A world without financial difficulties for families affected by cancer and a celebration of image prowess.

When Ashley Giza encouraged us to incorporate art into our vision, the vision statement was updated as well to become:

Vision: A world without financial difficulties for families affected by cancer and a celebration of image and creative prowess.

In 2019, in line with our commitment to ongoing networking, we attended the Association of Cancer Executives' 25th annual meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. The conference was a great success, and we met a lot of wonderful people in the oncology industry, all of whom were striving to help patients.

Nomination to serve on the board of the Association of Cancer Executives (ACE).

In 2019, I was nominated to serve on the board of the Association of Cancer Executives (ACE) in the capacity of Director at large (2020-2022). ACE is the parent organization for IOLC. And while I wasn't able to secure enough votes to sit on the board, it was a great honor and offered the organization and brand the visibility we needed. This exposure tied in with our go-to-market strategy for building a meaningful network. That same year, we reaffirmed our commitment to building a network that could touch all oncology players worldwide by attending our second International Oncology Leadership Conference (IOLC) in Antwerp, Belgium and by acting as part of the Planning Committee.

As we move forward in 2020, Just4Cancer is slated to attend the 26th annual ACE conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The past eight years leading up to today's launch of Just4Cancer have been eventful. We took a simple idea for a platform and made it into a viable solution able to raise cancer awareness across geographic boundaries while pointing families to the financial resources they so desperately need. This concept has ebbed and flowed to become a much needed peer-to-peer fundraising platform able to help countless families affected by cancer worldwide.

It's been a long journey, rightfully assuming the nickname "The Journey Man”. Along the way, we've met people who've contributed in so many ways to help us reach this goal. Each played a unique role in shaping the platform and has made a significant impact on where we are today. We're grateful for their voices, their time, their efforts, contributions, and professional support along the way.

To this end, I would like to thank:

Steve Zamzow, Doretha Burrell, Dr. Uly Labilles, Magdalene Shalo, Keeon Rudder, Pamela Ndikum, Panseh Tsewole, Zhyle Fleury Tsewole, Dr. L. Alee Moore, Solange Fonkem, Roosevelt and Ann Tsewole, Cletus Fotibu, Vitus Shalo, Dr. Tameka Ellington, Dr. Triya Collier, Dr. Jude Niba, Barry Libermann, Molly Lindheimer, Paschal Fuh, Barbara Bouchard, Dr. Chantal Nde, Jacques Shalo, Michael Chando, Zoss Group, Dr. Fosah Henry, Srikanth Bhonagiri, Dr. Theodore Tanke, Kenneth and Esther Biaka, members of Just4Cancer micro-investors group, Heine Nzumafor, Nge-nwie Azefor, Dr. and Mr. Besong-Asah, Dr. and Mrs. Molih Orock, Remond Mbiada, Dr. and Mr. Fokum, Frida Tende, Fri Kigham, Karen Tam, Claire Herbert, Vasupilli Rambabu, Oscar Tsewole and Erla Menard, Paulette Vildberg, Kelly DeRossett, Vamsi Krishna Sirisala, Harika Kowtharapu, Revada Bhuvana Reddy, Srinivas Patnaik Dabbiru, Ramesh Raja Babu Palleti, Mario Chávez Anduaga, David Gavin, David Gavin Voice Over, Ujjwol, Flora Asongwe, Joey Merino, Marla Briones, Michelle Sophia, Mellanie Parinas, Estrella Parco, Vincente II Sarcia, Vinay Kumar, Sandeep Saini, Gwendolyn Ngu, Ruben Vavrecan, Zuri Bracy, La Keisha Walker-Sheeley, Cindy Lavene, Daisy Achidi, Dr Christian Bime, Alana Alsop, Yekatherina Bruner, Grace Yeh, Heru, Ashley Giza, Nanci Williamson, Marilyn Lapaix, Manka Nkimbeng, Ivor Mitchell, MitchellWebMedia, Java Master International LLC (javamasters.com), QHR Pharmacy (qhrpharmacylv.com) and Peritia LLC (peritia.pro).

Reflecting on the meaning of the name of my son Zhyle one more time, one thing stands true. The Just4Cancer dream did not end.

PROVERBS 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

Belong to Just4Cancer.

With gratitude,

Clifford T. Rhayns
Founder of Just4Cancer

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Clifford T Rhayns

Founder

Clifford currently has more than 10 years of oncology systems experience at both vendor and hospital environments. While working as a Senior Systems Administrator for the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clifford was equally tasked with preparing and teaching the first Information Systems curriculum with focus on Radiation Oncology Information Systems to students of the Radiation Therapy Program.

Before founding Just4Cancer, in 2011, Clifford founded celeBritys4africA, Inc (celebritys4africa.org) a cancer charity with focus on awareness, screening and treatment in Africa. Under his leadership, the charity has been successful in its campaign to many under privileged communities in English speaking Cameroon, where, more than 5000 women have been screened for breast and cervical cancers with free need base treatment assistance extended to many families as well.

Clifford is a planning committee member of the International Oncology Leadership Conference (IOLC) and equally sits on the membership and vendor committees of the Association of Cancer Executives (ACE). In September 2019, Clifford was nominated to serve on the Association of Cancer Executives' Board of Directors in the capacity of Director at Large (2020-2022).

Clifford has many years in oncology information systems, information technology, agile transformation, coaching and agile project/product management. He is a Certified Scrum Master, Product Owner and an Agile Coach.

Vasu Rabambu

Director –Technology

Vasu started and guided many start-ups and small companies, which in turn have accomplished multi-million dollar revenue starting from zero in less than two years. He has equally been a part of 18 start-ups growing in leaps and bounds in the last 9 years. He acted as an architect with a technology vision, an architect that delivers a market ready product and makes it successful. He is an experienced professional in all aspects of new venture formation, execution and launch

Barry Lieberman

Advisor

Barry has 36 years' experience enabling organizations to scale & open new markets, become the industry go to brand, and improve sales and customer retention by executing best in class customer care. He has deep expertise in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales and Customer Care.

He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship & Marketing at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. As well as guiding the go to market for two companies. The first Everything Food is a food tech platform and the other, Just4Cancer, is a cause-based organization focused on relieving the financial burden of cancer treatment.

Barry is an industry expert in modern demand generation systems & processes, digital marketing, go to market execution, lead generation, business development, business operations, prospect nurturing, customer service, and customer retention programs.

Over the past 36 years he has held fractional executive roles for organizations like Western Digital, Targus International, Q-See/Digital Peripheral Solutions, ATEN/IOGEAR. He founded and operated (for 18 years) Advantage Plus Marketing Group, Inc. (APMG), an early pioneering B2B marketing services firm focused on executing demand/lead generation marketing programs for major technology brands (HP, Oracle, Sun, DEC, Compaq, IBM, Cognos, Avnet, WebEx, Audi, Hyandai, Liberty Mutual, HireRight, etc.). Before Advantage Plus Marketing Group he was in key marketing roles at Avnet Computer and was a major account sales manager with Hewlett-Packard.

In addition, Barry has an MBA with honors from Chapman University and a BS from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is a mentor and guest lecturer at Cal State Fullerton, Chapman, and UC Irvine. Barry is an Angel Investor and advocate for entrepreneurship

Claire Herbert

Advisor

Claire is an accomplished global healthcare communications strategist leading communications for the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, National Resident Matching Program, US Oncology/McKesson Specialty Health and the University of Maryland Medical System.

She began her focus on patient advocacy as teenager watching her mother's courageous battle with Huntington's Disease. Claire's older sister, Heloise developed Huntington's Disease along with Aplastic Anemia and passed within two years after a failed bone marrow transplant. Claire is now a deeply committed patient advocate.

Claire earned her bachelor's degree in public relations from the University of Texas in Austin, and is a MFA graduate candidate at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland with Jack her husband of 32 years and two spoiled golden retrievers, Bishop and Boots. Her two daughters Jacey and Julie live and work together nearby in Washington, DC.

Doretha Burrell

Advisor

Doretha Bounds-Burrell, better known as Dee, is a small business coach who loves to encourage, inspire and motivate others to live life to the fullest. As a Mother, Nana, Breast Cancer Survivor, Toastmaster, World Traveler, Keynote Speaker, Event Planner and a Just4Cancer advisory board member, Dee has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Dee has worked in the corporate world, private schools in Princeton, NJ, and for the past eight years, she has supported a well-known and respected retired United States Federal Court Judge in his role as the Ombudsman for the world's #1 gas and oil company.

Dee's numerous job experiences enhanced her skills and expertise by working closely with people who reach out to her for advice. All of this experience and trust from others is what led Dee to start a life coaching consulting business.

Dee enjoys spending quality time with her daughter and granddaughter; Andrea and Jayla, traveling, volunteering as a wine pourer at wine festivals and recently serving as a volunteer with World Central Kitchen.

Dee loves being near the water. "It is something about the sound of the waves, the birds chirping and the smell of the fresh air, that keeps my mind focused and at peace" says Dee

Keeon Rudder

Advisor

A published author and a fashion designer, Keeon Rudder founded the company Von Elijah, which gives businesses the opportunity to promote their own apparel brand with their logo on comfortably, curvy clothes.

Cancer sadly claimed the lives of Rudder's uncle, aunt, and grandma. A few Von Elijah employees have also lost loved ones in their battle to cancer. Von Elijah remains committed to the fight against cancer.

Ngosong Fonkem

Advisor

Ngosong Fonkem, is a trade compliance lawyer with broad experience working in diverse business sectors in the USA and internationally. He has worked on a variety of international trade related issues including energy consulting in Southeast Asia, and teaching as a full-time member of the law faculty at the oldest private university in Malaysia. From 2016 to 2018, he served on the Board of Harbor Commissioners at the port of Green Bay.

In 2016, he assisted Bruce Aitken and former WTO Dep. Director Chulsu Kim in launching the Trade Negotiations Training Center at a conference in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) and the Malaysian Bar Council. And he co-authored, with Mr. Aitken and Ambassador. Kim, an article on the Trade Negotiation Capacity Gap in Least Developing and Developed Countries, which was published In the IPBA Journal in 2016.

He currently assists companies with day-to-day compliance with U.S. trade laws and related audits, investigations, and civil enforcement proceedings. He is Vice-chair of the "Next Generation” Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. In 2018, he was nominated to serve as an industry sector advisor] within the US Trade Representative's Industry Sector Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) on "Customs and Trade Facilitation.” The official appointment confirmation is pending completion of the applicable top-level security clearance. Mr. Fonkem lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Steve Zamzov

Advisor

Steve is retired after serving the American Cancer Society for thirty-three years, starting in 1982 as a stock clerk while attending the University of Texas in Austin. After college, Steve began his full time employment as a Field Representative in Bryan/College Station in 1983. Other positions held include: Field Services Director based in Austin, Income Development Director based in El Paso, Executive Director based in Ft Worth, Vice President for Field Operations for the Texas Division, Chief Staff Officer for Relay For Life for the High Plains Division, Sr Vice President, Operations for the High Plains Division and most recently as National Vice President for Relay For Life.

In his most recent role, Steve provided leadership and strategy for the world's largest community-based fundraising initiative, Relay For Life. He also provided leadership to more than 6,000 events and 4 million Relayers globally. Steve has also served on numerous National workgroups including the Relay Advisory Team, Nationwide Talent Management Team and the Income Development Council.

Steve and his wife Kerry have two grown children and reside on a ranch outside of Austin Texas.

Uly Labilles, M.D, Ph.D

Advisor

Ulysses Labilles received his Doctor of Dental Medicine from Centro Escolar University, then finishing top of his class and hooded with Ph.D in Applied Public Health Epidemiology in January 2018. He is the past chapter president of the Golden Key International Honour Society of Walden University, and has led several groundbreaking evidence-based studies, strengthening his background in Applied Public Health Epidemiology. His metatheory on Unified Paradigm of Cancer Causation (UPCC) was registered for copyright protection, not only has the promised in standardizing guidelines in the investigation of cancer development and economic burden, but also can be applied to other population health issues using its environment-genetic interaction context. Dr. Labilles main interest is in pathopoiesis mechanism of environmental, genetic, biodemographic, behavioral risk factors in cancer development. Dr Labilles lost his younger brother to prostate cancer.

Donna Ebertz

Advisor

Donna is a Business and Intellectual Property attorney with over 17years of experience in Trademark and Patent. Her practice spans a broad array of products encompassing diverse technology areas, includingoptical and electro optical communication devices and systems,microprocessor and computer system architecture, integrated circuitmanufacturing, digital video and audio signal compression and processingsystems, mass-flow meters, mass spectrometers as well as variousmechanical systems. Donna's practice also includes substantialexperience in trademark, trade dress, theft of trade secrets, falseadvertising and copyright litigation. Donna also counsels clients on theimplementation of procedures and programs to identify and protectclients' intellectual property, the transfer of intellectual propertyand the validity, infringement and enforcement of intellectual property.

Donna has represented clients in various federal district courtsthroughout the United States, including those in the Eastern District ofTexas, District of Delaware, Northern District of California, EasternDistrict of Virginia, Middle District of Florida, Northern District ofIllinois, and District of Oregon. She is admitted to practice in theUnited States District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts ofCalifornia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, theSupreme Court of the United States, and before the United States Patentand Trademark Office.

Tameka N. Ellington,Ph.D

Advisor

Dr. Tameka N. Ellington is a tenured Associate Professor at the Kent State University (KSU) Fashion School. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in fashion design from KSU and a Master's of Arts degree in apparel & textile design from Michigan State University.She graduated with her degree of Doctor of Philosophy in curriculum and instruction in August 2011 from KSU. Dr. Ellington has worked for several years in the fashion industry. Her experiences include visual merchandising, design, and technical design. She began her teaching career at KSU in 2005, specializing in technical design and apparel manufacturing.

Her creative scholarship is often inspired by African and African American fables and folklore. Dr. Ellington publishes research in the discipline of social-psychological aspects of dress for African Americans and other minorities, such as people with disabilities. Within this realm of research, she focuses on the self-esteem and self-efficacy of African American people within the topics of dress and hair. Her work has been shown internationally including two exhibitions in Beijing, China, semi-solo exhibition with two other artists as well as an exhibition of her work in a solo show entitled RETOLD: African culture and fables reinterpreted into fashion Fall 2016. Dr. Ellington curated a museum exhibition, (dis)ABLED BEAUTY: the evolution of beauty, disability, and ability in partnership with Dr. Stacey Lim from Central Michigan University in Fall 2016/Spring 2017 boasting international recognition and has been featured in numerous national media outlets. She has published in international peer-reviewed journals and is a three-time featured author in the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. Her publications on African American hair have reached national and international recognition being featured in peer-reviewed journals as well as dress and culture encyclopedias.

Dr. Ellington has received over $36,000 in grants to help fund her scholarly work. Her upcoming projects include an exhibition entitled, "The History and Art of Black Hair,” opening at the KSU museum Fall 2020. Which will feature artifacts from Dr. Willie Marrow's collection – The author of 400 years without a comb. She is also editing a book entitled, "Navigating the Black Hair Phenomenon in a White World.” Dr. Ellington has received numerous awards for her work and service including the 2015 Mother, Mentors and Muses Award, the 2016 KSU College of the Arts Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and the 2017 Harambe Alumni Legacy Award which is given annually to recognize an alumnus for their distinguished contributions and extraordinary service in the areas of diversity and social justice. In November 2017 Dr. Ellington was awarded the highest honor in her field, the ITAA Rising Star Award. This past Fall semester, she was recognized by Provost Diacon at the Ohio Board of Trustees banquet dinner for her research contributions to the field. She was also honored to have President Warren congratulate her on her contributions during the State of the Address. Dr. Ellington became the first African American Professor of Fashion at the KSU Fashion School in 2012. She recently was promoted to Associate Dean of the College of the Arts and has the honor of blazing a trail in that role as the first African American Dean of the college.

Dr. Ellington grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Lee Memorial AME Church during her youth. After marrying, she joined her husband at his family's parish, St. Agnes Our Lady of Fatima Church; where she has taught Sunday school for more than 5 years. She has received numerous awards for her service of teaching and mentoring the Fatima youth. She resides in Akron, with her husband Aaron, three boys: Aaron Jr., Xavier and Maxwell, and their cat, Aloof.

Michelle Sophia

Process Engineer

Michelle Sophia has more than 3 years of experience working as a researcher, data encoder, social media management and administrative process acceleration. Outside work, she enjoys spending quality hours at home with her husband and 2 kids. She is a strong believer that all things are given to us at the right time so while you are waiting for that right time, you can start doing something to make it happens.

Jude Niba, Ed.D

Scrum Master

Dr Jude Niba has more than 5 years of experience as a Scrum Master. He has managed projects in many different industries either as a consultant or an employee. He has equally been instrumental in many conversions from waterfall to agile with strong interest in agile transformation and coaching. He spends his off days either playing soccer or helping to transport veterans in Las Vegas Metro. He equally enjoys quiet moments at home watching a movie.

Bhuvanna Reddy

Scrum Master

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