Alliance Advocate Spotlight:
Amanda Rice, Founder & CEO, Chick Mission
CM: How did you connect to Critical Mass?
I came across Critical Mass when I was researching the fertility landscape for young adult cancer patients. As a 3-time survivor myself, I was trying to determine which states were having productive conversations regarding potential adjustments of state law, and to see how I could use my experiences to help influence change.
CM: What’s your personal story and connection?
I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2014. At that time, I had hit my stride in my career in finance and I was as busy as ever. Funny how cancer does not take a back seat to your schedule. I began the journey with a mastectomy followed by reconstruction and drug therapy. Fast forward one year to a melanoma diagnosis in 2015 (unrelated) and a recurrence of breast cancer in late 2016, which led to a 2017 filled with fertility preservation followed by chemotherapy, radiation, medically induced menopause and now an aromatase inhibitor which I will take for the next 10 years. Needless to say, I can be categorized as a cancer overachiever, but I used my time in the waiting rooms and chemo suite to brainstorm and “hatch” the idea of the Chick Mission. I knew I had to find a way to educate and provide grants to young women diagnosed with cancer. I am proud to share that we launched late last year and have just provided our 5th grant.
CM: What do you wish the average person knew/understood about the #AYACancer experience?
Young adult cancer is on the rise, but this is an underfunded area — and laws are slow to catch up. This community of patients (age 18–40) receives a very small portion of the overall cancer dollars, yet this population faces several unique obstacles that make a cancer diagnosis incredibly damaging. These are individuals who don’t have a huge nest egg, drown under the weight of student loans, are just beginning to grow their career, and, for some of us, haven’t yet begun the family they had always wished to start.
CM: What does being a part of Critical Mass mean to you and your work?
You know that old saying, “you can give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, or teach them to fish and feed them for a lifetime”? I think of this quote often when I receive updates from Critical Mass. This organization is relentlessly focused on trying to change the structural headwinds the AYA community faces. I am so proud to work with such an incredible group of people. I remember feeling hopeless when first diagnosed — the fact that CM can help alleviate that feeling in those being diagnosed today brings me so much personal joy. The Chick Mission is focused on helping alleviate the burden young adults with a cancer diagnosis are dealing with as it relates to their fertility by providing need-based grants and education, but this is only one part of the solution. We have teamed up with Critical Mass to influence legislative and corporate policy change as it relates to fertility preservation to make positive change once and for all.
CM: Do you have a call to action for the Critical Mass membership?
My call to action is this: We must convince 46 states to adjust their laws to mandate insurance companies cover the cost of fertility coverage for AYA cancer patients. When given the opportunity to influence an outcome, we need to take it and RUN with it! Please sign all of the petitions, make calls to your representatives. Show up! If not for yourself, for the thousands of patients that are newly diagnosed each year. Let’s help those who come after us make that tough road we’ve all been down a little bit easier to navigate.
Click here to connect with Amanda and learn more about Chick Mission.
