This week marks one of my favorite times of the year, and an incredibly exciting time for ACS CAN staff and volunteers: ACS CAN’s annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day.
Throughout the year, ACS CAN and its volunteers work to impact the cancer burden by making sure lawmakers are aware of the issues that matter to them at all levels of government. September marks one of the most powerful and exciting times of the year as we gather hundreds of our advocates in the nation’s capital as part of our annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day.
I’m honored to have Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier contribute his voice to the blog. Ken is a visionary leader who shares ACS CAN’s unshakable commitment to making cancer a national priority.
After several busy and exciting days, our annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day came to a close with a keynote speech by award-winning actor Hill Harper.
Nearly 700 cancer advocates got a pep talk from three great Division I NCAA basketball coaches as the group prepared to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
ACS CAN's Indiana Day at the Capitol event was one of nearly 50 similar events scheduled to take place in almost every state and the District of Columbia between January and May this year. During 2016 state sessions ACS CAN will be working to convince lawmakers to pass comprehensive smoke-free laws, increase tobacco taxes, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, prohibit the use of tanning devices for minors and guarantee access to health care and lifesaving cancer screenings.
It's my pleasure to be able to share a guest post from Mellany (originally posted on ypchronic.org) describing her first lobby day experience in Boston last month. Mellany is an American Cancer Society Global Scholar from Kenya.
Dr. Laura Witherspoon is an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteer from Tennessee. Below is her account of her participation in the One Voice Against Cancer lobby day on July 9.