By Cervivor Communications Director Sara Lyle-Ingersoll

A gynecologic cancer diagnosis can change a person’s life in an instant. Hearing the words “you have cancer” is a universally disorienting experience — one that can divide life into a before and an after.

But the impact doesn’t stop with the person diagnosed. It reaches families, friends, caregivers, and communities. Daughters care for their mothers. A loved one’s diagnosis changes how family members think about their own health and the decisions they make about their care. And when someone dies from gynecologic cancer, those left behind carry both the loss and the memory of the person they loved.

Sometimes, those experiences become a catalyst for action. Survivors and loved ones turn what they have lived through into education, peer support, research, policy, community-building, and advocacy — working to make the path better for those who come next.

That same belief in the power of patient voices fueled Cervivor Founder and Chief Visionary Tamika Felder to start the organization 21 years ago after surviving cervical cancer.

“Too many gynecologic cancers still aren’t talked about enough. That’s why every voice and every journey matters,” says Tamika, echoing Cervivor’s Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month (GCAM) 2026 theme. “When survivors share their stories, they raise awareness, help others recognize the signs, and inspire action that can lead to prevention, earlier diagnoses, and better outcomes.”

Throughout the month, Cervivor has been elevating the voices of people whose lives have been changed by different gynecologic cancers — and who are using those experiences to improve the lives and outcomes of others. Read on to meet seven people moving gynecologic cancer advocacy forward.

Naomi Aziz: Advocating for Young Patients to Be Heard

Endometrial Cancer Research Foundation (ECRF), Patient Advocacy & Engagement Lead

Naomi Aziz was just 27 when she was diagnosed with Stage IVB endometrial cancer in 2018, after experiencing prolonged menstrual bleeding for nearly a year. She was forced to confront the loss of her fertility and the future she had envisioned for herself.

Her age makes her experience particularly striking: The average age at endometrial cancer diagnosis is 60, and the disease is uncommon in people younger than 45, according to the American Cancer Society.

After more than five years of treatment, Naomi found a way to turn grief and uncertainty into action. Today, her advocacy emphasizes symptom awareness, equitable access to specialists and clinical trials, survivorship, and making sure younger patients are part of the conversation.

“There is growing recognition that lived experience is essential, and that patients should not simply be included in these conversations; they should help shape them.”

Adrienne Moore: Filling a Void for Black Women

Endometrial Cancer Action Network for African Americans (ECANA), President

When Adrienne Moore was diagnosed with Stage III endometrial cancer in 2016, she went looking for answers — and couldn’t find them. A respiratory therapist and longtime patient and caregiver educator, she realized she could use both her professional skills and lived experience to help other Black women recognize symptoms, ask questions, and communicate more confidently with their healthcare providers.

That mission is urgent. The American Cancer Society reports that although Black women are less likely than white women to be diagnosed with endometrial cancer, their death rate from the disease is nearly twice as high. 

Adrienne’s advocacy also carries the memory of her late cousin, Cervivor Ambassador Teolita Rickenbacker, a 2017 Cervivor School graduate who lived with Stage IV cervical cancer and advocated on Capitol Hill. Adrienne told Cervivor that participating in this GCAM feature was one way she could honor her cousin.

“Our patient voice creates a powerful ripple effect: As individuals share their experiences, vital information spreads throughout the community.”

Kath Mazzella OAM: Refusing to be Ashamed 

Vulvar Cancer Survivor, Author and International Gynecologic Health Advocate

For Kath Mazzella OAM, an Australian advocate awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (that’s the “OAM” after her name) for her service to women’s health, advocacy began with a cancer people were barely willing to name.

Kath says a lump near her clitoris was dismissed for about 18 months before she was diagnosed with vulvar cancer. After undergoing extensive treatment, she was struck by how little people knew about vulvar health—and by the shame and silence surrounding women’s genital health.

“I simply refuse to be ashamed,” she says.

That conviction has fueled more than 30 years of advocacy for greater awareness, education, early detection, and open conversations about gynecologic health. Kath also established International Gynecological Awareness Day, observed annually on September 10. Her new book, Stitched Up: Turning My Vulval Cancer Diagnosis into a World-Changing Movement, is being released this week, sharing more of her journey from diagnosis to advocacy.

Her hope for future patients is simple but powerful: “knowledge, a voice, and permission to speak openly about their vulvar health without shame.”

Alvina Nadeem: Turning Patient Experience Into Systems Change

Quebec Cancer Coalition, Board Member | Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN Canada), Public Advisory Council Member

Before ovarian cancer, Alvina Nadeem understood complex systems through her work in engineering, change management, human-centered design, and digital transformation. Then she became the person trying to navigate one.

“I understood the ‘pipes,’ so to speak: how systems are designed, coordinated, implemented, handed off, and changed,” Alvina says. “Cancer made me understand the ‘water.’”

Suddenly, professional concepts became lived experiences. She saw firsthand the gap between healthcare as designed and as experienced — and how often patients and families are left to bridge it.

Today, Alvina advocates for recognizing lived experience as a “form of systems intelligence.” Patients cross boundaries between clinicians, hospitals, researchers, and other parts of healthcare, giving them insight into gaps that institutions may not see.

“Healthcare should not be designed around the most capable version of the patient,” Alvina says. “If a system works only because the patient can research, remember, coordinate, and advocate through its gaps, that is what the engineer in me would call a design problem.”

After all, she says, “We don’t expect water to flow where the pipes don’t connect.”

Runsi Sen: Carrying Her Mother’s Legacy Forward

Ovarcome, Founder

Runsi Sen’s path to advocacy began beside her mother. As she helped her navigate ovarian cancer, Runsi experienced the anxiety, uncertainty, complicated decisions, and isolation that can accompany a diagnosis—and the helplessness of watching someone she loved rapidly succumb to the disease.

After her mother died, Runsi made a promise to carry her legacy forward by supporting other women and families affected by ovarian cancer. That promise became Ovarcome, an organization focused on education, support, research, equity, and access.

Her experience also taught her that advocacy doesn’t belong only to patients and survivors.

“Care partners are instrumental in ensuring quality of care for those in treatment. They are the silent yet unwavering force behind Ovarcoming. They should be given a seat at the table. Always.”

Nefa-Tari Moore: Three Cancer Journeys, One Powerful Voice

International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS), Gynecologic Cancer Advocate

As both a nurse and a three-time uterine and ovarian cancer thriver, Nefa-Tari Moore brings what she calls “authentic authority” to her advocacy — encouraging women to trust their instincts, ask difficult questions, and push back when their concerns are dismissed.

Her advocacy spans education, peer support, health equity, and systemic change, with a particular focus on ensuring Black women are represented in gynecologic cancer care, research, and advocacy. In 2025, the International Gynecologic Cancer Society recognized her work with its Dicey Scroggins Distinguished Advocate Award.

“Ensuring Black women’s voices and experiences are centered in gynecologic cancer care, research, and advocacy isn’t just about equity—it’s essential for saving lives.”

Claudia Pérez-Favela: Putting a Face to the Statistics

Cervivor Ambassador | American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), ACT Lead

Five years before Claudia Pérez-Favela faced cervical cancer herself, her mother died just 17 days after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

That loss shaped how Claudia approached her own diagnosis and treatment. When she needed a radical hysterectomy, she chose to have her ovaries removed, too, because she feared facing the disease that had taken her mother. She later learned that she carries a BRCA2 mutation.

Claudia initially wondered whether her experience was even hers to share. Her perspective changed after attending Cervivor School in 2023. The following year, she received Cervivor’s Rising Star Award in recognition of her growing advocacy within the Hispanic community and the broader movement to end cervical cancer.  

Today, her advocacy continues to grow. She recently penned an Imperial Valley Press op-ed promoting HPV vaccination as cancer prevention, and was selected for Cancer Nation’s 2026 Leadership Academy, where she is continuing to build the skills and connections to turn her lived experience into broader change.

“I have learned that it is very important to put a face to the statistics and that every story matters, including my own.”

Every Story Can Move Us Forward

There is no single path from cancer to advocacy. It can begin with a diagnosis, a delayed diagnosis, caring for someone you love, losing someone you love, or simply recognizing that what happened to you should be different for the person who comes next.

What connects these advocates is their willingness to speak — and to turn lived experience into something larger.

That is at the heart of Cervivor’s GCAM 2026 theme: 

Our Stories. Our Movement.
Every Voice. Every Journey. Every Gynecologic Cancer.

Later this month, Cervivor will put that theme into action at its first-ever Gynecological Cancer Survivors Retreat and Advocacy Training, September 24 to 27 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Powered by Cervivor School, the special retreat expands beyond cervical cancer to welcome survivors of all gynecologic cancers and build community through shared experience, education, and advocacy training.

Cervivor Cares for Caregivers, Too

As Runsi and Claudia’s stories remind us, gynecologic cancer affects more than the person diagnosed. Caregivers and loved ones often navigate their own uncertainty, questions, and emotions while supporting someone through diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. 

If you’re caring for or supporting someone facing a gynecologic cancer diagnosis or survivorship, you don’t have to navigate that role alone. Cervivor’s private Caregiver Support Community on Facebook offers a space to connect with others who understand the challenges, questions, and emotions that can come with supporting someone you love.

About the Author

SARA LYLE-INGERSOLL is a content and communications expert dedicated to transforming lived experiences into impactful stories. Her award-winning magazine feature about a close friend who died from cervical cancer in their twenties led her to Cervivor, and solidified her commitment to cervical cancer awareness and prevention. Now, as Cervivor’s Communications Director, Sara brings this mission full circle.