The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (and a Tribute to Ellen Stoval)

Today on the show, I welcome Shelly Fuld Nasso, Chief Executive Officer at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. It's important to note that NCCS, as it is referred to because #acronyms, is the Nation's oldest survivor-led advocacy organization founded during the Paleolithic Era of Cancer Care — the time before time — of 1986. Yes, the same year as Top Gun, Aliens, Crocodile Dundee, The Color Purple, and Rodney Dangerfield's Back To School, also introduced the word "Survivorship" into the lexicon because the disruptive forces behind NCCS's founding were sick and tired of being called victims, a practice that somehow still continues today. NCCS is an advocacy group I hold especially near and dear as it was the first group that I was introduced to when I decided to quit my career and learn what it meant to become a cancer advocate. Their founder, the late great Ellen Stoval, was my human mentor gateway drug into the world of "making cancer suck less." Shelley has a storied and robust history in advocacy based on personal experience and an inner core of social entrepreneurship that gives her all the credibility she doesn't even need to lead one of our time's dominant advocacy and policy organizations. Prepare to learn. This episode is dedicated in honor and memory of my friend and mentor, Ellen Stoval.