HOUSTON – Sisters Network® Inc. (SNI), the only national African American breast cancer survivor-run organization in the United States is pleased to announce that Karla Baptiste has been appointed to serve on Sisters Network Inc. National Board of Directors.
Baptiste, a 13-year breast cancer survivor, has become a force in the breast health advocacy movement.
She is an ambassador for the Stanford Cancer Institute Community Partnership Program, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America – Cancer Fighters organization, the Celebrating Life Foundation, and the St. Vincent & The Grenadines Medical Association (SVGMA) in her father’s birthplace in the West Indies.
“Sisters Network is very fortunate to have Karla join our National Board of Directors. As a young survivor, Karla is a leader and passionate about engaging and empowering Black women to take action in their breast health. I look forward to Karla helping the organization to identify new and impactful strategies to enhance Sisters Network initiatives through our various digital platforms to not only elevate the black breast cancer crisis conversation, but to also develop innovative programs that will make an impact and encourage action in the black community,” said Karen E. Jackson, Founder/CEO, Sisters Network Inc.
Since initially being diagnosed with stage 3A breast cancer in October 2007 at the age of 34, Baptiste published her bestselling breast cancer memoir, Dig in Your Heels: The Glamorous (and Not So Glamorous) Life of a Young Breast Cancer Survivor. She has since become a sought-after speaker around the subject of breast health, faith, and overcoming life’s obstacles. After a metastasis to her spine in July 2014 and one in June 2019, Karla is now a threetime breast cancer survivor. Her mantra is “One Life to Live. Many Lives to Touch.®” and she is using her voice and experience to touch lives around the world.
“What Sisters Network Inc. has accomplished over the past 25 years has been nothing short of phenomenal,” said Baptiste. “I am so honored to be a member of the national board and to make a greater impact in the fight against breast cancer in the Black community with one of the nation’s leading African American breast cancer survivorship organizations.”
Black women have the highest breast cancer death rate of any racial/ethnic group, 40% more likely to die than Caucasian women. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among African American women according to the American Cancer Society.
To learn more about Sisters Network Inc., please visit www.sistersnetworkinc.org or call 1-866-781-1808. Follow Sisters Network on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.