Judy Pearson

Judy Pearson is an award-winning author and international speaker originally from Michigan. She has authored three books including two WWII biographies on ordinary people displaying exemplary courage.

In 2011, Judy Pearson received a breast cancer diagnosis. However, it was not the treatment process or the diagnosis that brought a challenge to her lifelong optimism, but rather the survivorship issues that she encountered. Her cancer encounter motivated her to write the book, It’s Just Fair which is about twenty fundamental lessons in life. In 2012, the book was a finalist in the International Book Award and contains practical lessons for any life challenge. It was during her survivorship journey that Judy Pearson and Karen Shayne became acquainted later launching the Women Survivors Alliance.

The two women formed the perfect team. Judy Pearson had been committed to helping women and developing communities even prior to her cancer diagnosis. In 2005, Judy formed the organization Courage Concepts committed to building courage in girls and women. Already an experienced workshop leader and keynote speaker, Judy became a crucial part of the Women Survivors Alliance by helping the organization communicate its message effectively.

Presently, Judy Pearson spends her time managing the National Women’s Survivors Convention and the Women Survivors Alliance alongside Karen Shayne. Judy balances these roles together with other aspects of her life such as writing, advocacy for female cancer survivors, as well as inspiring women across the world through her message of determination and courage. She divides her time between a Michigan lake house with David, her husband, and Chicago. Ranking at the top of Judy’s list of activities to do include a relaxing drink enjoying the sunset, reading a great book, long energy walks, and trips to the gym.

Led by Karen Shayne and Judy Pearson, the Women Survivors Alliance has assumed the responsibility of addressing the challenges surrounding survivorship for women, their families, and consequently, the community they reside in. The organization shares how people who have experienced some of the toughest forms of adversity have dealt with the challenge, and by doing so have inspired many women around the world. Through various issues of magazines, the organization has provided readers with various practical strategies about cancer survivorship, wellness and health, inspiration, relationships, career, money, and much more. The Women Survivors Alliance encourages women to have hope in the face of their diagnosis, and during the course of their survivorship journey. In doing so, the nonprofit organization has impacted and transformed women’s lives across the world.…

The Founders of Women Survivors Alliance – Karen Shayne

Survivors 2nd Act

The Third Ribbon of the Women Survivors Alliance is the Survivors 2nd Act. The Women Survivors Alliance encourages women cancer survivors to share their stories with other people either verbally or in written form, and believe that cancer healing can be achieved by supporting cancer patients. The nonprofit organization encourages women cancer survivors to use their gifts of experience and time to support other women who are where they once were in their cancer journeys. Survivors 2nd Act is a continuously expanding collection of essays by cancer survivors on cancer survivorship. Survivors 2nd Act also features a segment called Survivors Stories from the Stage, which is a professionally produced stage performance where a dozen women read their five-minute cancer stories. The impact of these two platforms is inspiring, empowering, and celebratory for all.

About the Founders

The Women Survivors Alliance was established by two cancer survivors, Judy Pearson and Karen Shayne.

Karen Shayne

When it comes to the treatment of cancer, Karen has experience from all sides of the coin. In addition to successfully battling cancer twice, Karen Shayne has also had a career spanning twenty years as a health administrator. It was from both these encounters with the process of cancer treatment that revealed to her the resource insufficiency cancer patients face, inspiring her to create the Women Survivors Alliance.

When Karen was on the verge of winning her fight against cancer, she anticipated that her life would return to normal, and everything would be just as it was prior to her cancer diagnosis. To her dismay, that was not the case. As soon as she finished her cancer treatment, other issues set in. One of the challenges Karen faced after her battle with cancer was transitioning back into society, which led to depression. Joining Relay in Life made Karen realize that her circumstance was not at all unusual. Many women cancer survivors had traveled the road that she was now traveling. She discovered that it was actually a usual phenomenon for cancer survivors to experience complicated emotional and physical challenges with little to no support.

In Karen’s first initiative to support cancer survivors, she created Billy Wish, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting children in their fight against cancer through coloring books, and educational CDs and DVDs. These free resources help explain to children what cancer entails, and what they can anticipate from the treatment of the disease, all in an encouraging and age-appropriate manner. While Karen was still involved in her first initiative Billy Wish, she perceived that she could make a more impactful contribution to society by providing support to cancer survivors from across America.

In 2012, Karen Shayne started Women Survivors Alliance following 5 years of planning and research. Today, the Women Survivors Alliance is the most essential yearly event for female cancer survivors. The inaugural convention was attended by participants from five countries and forty-nine states learning about survivor issues from various teachers and experts. Soon Karen realized that there was an obvious need for a presence all year round and decided to launch the digital magazine PLUM for cancer survivors across the globe.

Alongside Karen Shayne’s roles in the aforementioned initiatives, she is presently the Survivorship Committee Chairperson for the Cancer Coalition of Tennessee and previously served in the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network as Tennessee State Lead Ambassador. Karen currently resides in Nashville with her lovely pet Marley. in Karen Shayne’s free time, she likes to experience the character of her Nashville musical roots, as well as being a wannabe pro-style baker.

Article written by Matthew Johnson, professional writer in the fitness, health, and finance realms. His work can primarily be found on Credit Glory, but watch out for his latest work right here on WSA.

Women Survivors Alliance – A Nonprofit Organization for Cancer Survivors

The Women Survivors Alliance was established in 2012 by Judy Pearson and Karen Shayne to promote the idea of cancer survivorship in relation to women’s matters upon finishing their treatment. There are more than seven million female cancer survivors in America alone, and it is estimated that around 700,000 female patients are diagnosed with cancer every year. When you break that down, the number is 1 out of 3 women who are diagnosed with some type of cancer every year. Due to successful research over the years, more cancer patients are able to fight the disease, which highlights why survivorship education and efforts need to be catapulted to the forefront of the dialogue about cancer.

Cancer Survivorship encompasses all areas of a woman’s life–from the financial, physical, insurance, and job-related issues to self-worth/self-esteem concerns as well as family dynamics. It isn’t just a matter of what a person wears to work, it has more to do with what a person wants to do with their lives as well as the tools required to do it. The Women Survivors Alliance offers help to women who are battling cancer as well as those who have completed treatment in creating their care plan for life in relation to real-life application skills. The Nonprofit organization helps women in a one-on-one or group session to provide them with the necessary instruments to take care of themselves and regain their sense of control beyond cancer.

The vision of the Women Survivors Alliance is transforming cancer survivorship from a mood to a movement by connecting, empowering, and educating women across the nation whose lives have been altered by cancer. The Nonprofit organization’s mission is to develop a community where female cancer patients and those affected by the disease can have a voice, embrace their new life beyond cancer, and enhance their quality of life.

What the Women Survivors Alliance does

The Women Survivors Alliance was established by women cancer survivors for women cancer survivors, offering 3 Ribbons of Support.

SURVIVORville

The First Ribbon of the Women’s Survivors Alliance is SURVIVORville, hosted in Nashville, Tennessee. The event attracts female cancer survivors of various ages, stages, and types of cancer. The main focus of the event includes real-life application skills, education, and motivation. It attracts various celebrities, the Celebrate Survivors 5K and Walk, medical professionals from various specialties of survivorship, and much more. There is a lot of great music played during the event, so you can rest assured that you will not be bored.

NOU

The Second Ribbon of the Women’s Survivors Alliance is a digital magazine known as NOU. The NOU magazine is for women who have survived cancer living a NEW plus YOU life beyond cancer. The magazine is a comprehensive source of information with dynamic content spanning various topics such as health, sexuality, finances, exercises, nutrition, a directory of cancer and survivorship entities on the web, a book club, and much more.…

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