Veteran Cancer Network

What is the core mission of your organization? To improve cancer outcomes for veterans by advocating for earlier detection, better screening, and system-wide changes in how military risk exposures are recognized and addressed. We work to connect veterans and caregivers to trusted resources, elevate lived experiences, and strengthen collaboration across the veteran and healthcare communities to drive meaningful, long-term change.

How do you measure impact and success in your programs? We measure impact through a combination of community engagement, partnerships formed, and action taken. This includes the number of veterans and caregivers reached, stories shared, screenings and resources accessed through referrals, growth of collaborative partners, and policy or advocacy progress tied to military risk exposure recognition and early detection efforts.

What are your biggest fundraising or outreach challenges? Our biggest challenges are building sustained awareness and trust as a growing organization, securing consistent funding to support long-term advocacy work, and cutting through a crowded nonprofit landscape to reach veterans and caregivers who may not yet realize they are at elevated cancer risk.

How do you build long-term relationships with donors and supporters? We build long-term relationships by staying transparent about our mission, progress, and challenges, sharing real stories that show impact, and keeping supporters engaged through consistent updates and opportunities to be part of the work. We focus on trust, communication, and making every supporter feel connected to the change they are helping create.

What trends are influencing the nonprofit world today? Key trends shaping the nonprofit world today include a growing focus on data-driven impact measurement, increased emphasis on digital engagement and storytelling, and stronger expectations for transparency and accountability. Donors and supporters want clear evidence of outcomes, organizations are leveraging online platforms for year-round engagement, and collaboration across the sector is becoming more common to amplify impact. There’s also a rising emphasis on equity, lived experience, and community-led solutions, ensuring that those most affected play a central role in shaping programs and policy.

Can you share a story that shows your mission in action? Our mission is rooted in lived experience. As a veteran, I was diagnosed with cancer at a relatively young age, and cancer wasn’t even on the radar during routine care. Screening wasn’t part of the conversation. By the time it was discovered, it had already become far more serious than it should have been.

That experience showed us a critical gap in how veterans’ cancer risks and military exposures are recognized and addressed. Veteran Cancer Network was created to help change that reality.

Today, that mission shows up through initiatives like Pedal for Impact, which raises awareness about early detection and risk exposure, and Just Ring the Bell, which uses a simple symbol to spark conversations about survivorship, screening, and hope. Every story we share, every partnership we build, and every conversation we start is focused on making sure more veterans get answers earlier than I did.

What keeps you motivated in this work? What keeps me motivated is knowing that earlier detection could change — or save — someone else’s life. My own cancer journey showed me how easily veterans can fall through the cracks when screening and risk exposure aren’t prioritized. If the work we’re doing helps even one veteran get answers sooner, start treatment earlier, or feel less alone, then it’s worth it. Building a better system for those who served is what drives me every day.