At the age of 15, Teresa Niño was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After surgery, radiation and two years of aggressive chemotherapy treatment at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s in Chicago, IL, she went into remission and has been in remission ever since. “Not that I’m grateful for the cancer,” says Teresa. “but, it humbled me, made me appreciate life, my family, friends and community – and taught me the importance of helping others in need.” Teresa, a Mexican immigrant from Tampico, Tamaulipas, MX, earned a BA in Television and Communications from Columbia College, Austin, TX and went on to become a news reporter for Spanish language television in Chicago where she was nominated twice for a Chicago Emmy.

Her work in television led her to become Assistant Press Secretary to Chicago’s Mayor Daley – as well as serve in two Presidential Administrations in Washington, DC (Clinton 1993-1996; Obama 2009-2017) – both times serving in leadership roles at the US Department of Health & Human Services where she led the Communications and Public Engagement teams during the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) implementation. Teresa also advised the communications and legislative offices at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services during the DACA and DAPA rollouts, and then led the “If You See Something Say Something” national security campaign for the US Department of Homeland Security.

Teresa is now leading the electronic health records communications for University Health System – San Antonio’s Level 1 Trauma Center and also the county hospital. Teresa’s desire to serve on The Latino Cancer Institute board of directors is to help guide the organization towards better research, care, treatments and cures for Latinos with cancer.

“Throughout her career, Teresa has worked on high visibility national issues and has always found a way to make sure that the Latino voice is represented”, said TLCI founder, Ysabel Duron. “I have witnessed her navigate through DC’s complicated policies and politics and am pleased that she will help guide The Latino Cancer Institute.”

Notable Awards & Recognition:
Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition in Healthcare (2014) ; Latinas in Power presented by the Puerto Rican Chamber of South Florida (2013); Leadership Award presented by the National Organization for Mexican American Rights (2012); Hispanic Leadership Award presented by the National Hispanic Medical Association (2010); Leadership Award presented by the Adelante Leadership Institute (2007); “40 Under 40” Rising Stars presented by the San Antonio Business Journal (2002); “Super Mom” recognized by Latina Magazine (1995).

Dr. Vera Packard is originally from Brazil, where she earned her Medical Degree, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas De Pernambuco, Brazil, and specialized in breast disease, particularly in breast cancer at Guys Hospital in London. In her home country, she worked in private practice in addition to the University Hospital for 20 years.

Dr. Packard has a deep commitment to women’s health issues which inspired her to found a nonprofit organization devoted to breast cancer awareness in 1997 in Brazil. With over 20 years’ experience in nonprofit leadership, Dr. Packard became the Executive Director for the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation where she led a talented, dedicated staff on a mission to improve the lives of breast cancer survivors in the San Francisco Bay Area. She joined Lazarex Cancer Foundation as its Executive Director in October of 2017 and is committed to its mission and success.

The Lazarex Foundation provides supporting services for late stage cancer patients to find and participate in clinical trials. Vera believes in communities coming together to help each other. She has served as president of her former Rotary club in Brazil and was a leader in the medical community in Natal, Brazil. She is currently on the board member of Wardrobe for Opportunity, an organization that helps men and women find a job, keep a job and build a career.

Vera is excited to join The Latino Cancer Institute Board of Directors because, being a Latina, she deeply understands the cultural behavior of this community. She believes she can add value to this emerging organization with the combination of her experience as a doctor in Brazil and knowledge about the nonprofit sector in America she has acquired in the past 10 years.

Vera is married to Mark, and has a beautiful family. Their daughter Mac, and son Tiago, with his new wife Georgea, are all proud to call Northern California home.

Notable Awards & Recognition:
“Outstanding Business Woman” presented by the American Business Women’s Association Bay Area Council; “Ruby Award” presented by the Soroptimist 24-680 Club from Walnut Creek, CA; “1 of the 100 Women of Influence” presented by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Dr. Molina serves as a scholar activist focused on promoting the voices and agency of marginalized and resilient populations, including Latinx and other communities of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, and communities living with chronic conditions.

Since 2011, Dr. Molina and community partners have been successful in obtaining multiple competitive grants (>$730K), publishing more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, and 30 national conference presentations focused on health equity. Further, they are committed to the next diverse generation of scholar activists, having mentored over 30 undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, graduate, and medical students who identify as ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities.

An overarching theme in this work is recognizing and leveraging the assets of underserved individuals, social networks, and communities toward health equity, with a focus on breast cancer and HIV. Specifically, individuals do not represent only “data points” in scientific studies, but also have the potential to become messengers/interventionists that diffuse and act upon evidence. Dr. Molina has both an MS and PhD in Psychology and MPH, in Epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Notable Awards & Recognition:
Recipient of National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 under 40 Leaders in Minority Health (2017); American Cancer Society’s Calle/Rodriguez Memorial Minority Travel Award (2018); University of Illinois Chicago Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Latino Faculty Recognition Award (2019)

After earning a BA at San Francisco State University, it was in 1972, at the beginning of the women’s movement, that Marcia Brandwynne became the first female television journalist to anchor a major prime time newscast in the San Francisco Bay Area. As such, she took seriously, her unique public role to mentor, educate and inspire young women to enter the field of journalism. Ms. Brandwynne’s on-air presence and reporting abilities were noticed by CBS, and in 1978, she was teamed with Connie Chung to become the first female team to anchor a major news program.

As a distinguished news, talk and producing professional, Ms. Brandwynne has appeared as a correspondent on Dateline NBC and co-anchored the prestigious NPR radio program All Things Considered.

Living in Los Angeles, Ms. Brandwynne also worked behind the camera in the entertainment industry, heading up Carol Burnett’s production company for ten years, and in 2002, she went back into the news business to help run a major news department. As a producer of a number of award-winning news programs, it allowed her to hire and develop the talents of many young people – an ideal setting to continue her mentoring interests, especially toward women and minorities.

While Ms. Brandwynne was one of the champions and role models fighting for women’s workplace equality in the 70’s, now in her mid-70’s, having recovered from two bouts of cancer, she’s taken on the mantle of role model once again, but this time for later-in-life encore career-seekers. In 2012, she returned to school earning a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, and for four years, worked pro bono in a low-fee clinic to become a Licensed Psychotherapist. Recently, she opened her own private practice in Los Angeles where she offers a sliding scale for those seeking more affordable therapy.

Ms. Brandwynne epitomizes the philosophy of vital living and healthy aging by embracing a philosophy that, “Curiosity is the fuel you need for growing old with a healthy outlook. I intend to keep on doing what I love, hoping others will benefit from my example and experience.”

Marcia Brandwynne is proud to support change-makers who work tirelessly toward improving the lives of others. In honor of her late husband Al Meyerhoff, a labor lawyer called “a legal voice for the poor” by The New York Times who passed away at age 63 from leukemia, she created The Brandwynne Fund. It provides grants to The Latino Cancer Institute while also serving on its National Advisory Council Board.

Notable Awards & Recognition:
Brandwynne has won a number of Emmys and other awards for investigative journalism and for her in-depth reporting on social conditions.

Orlando T. Padilla is President, CEO and Founder of Padilla NetWorks, a consulting firm established in 2010. It provides global public policy, strategic planning and management expertise on domestic and international business topics to Fortune 500 clients and new business ventures. Mr. Padilla has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His key expertise includes international perspectives at the highest management levels; general management; corporate responsibility achieving optimum reputation/image; seasoned Latino leadership initiatives. Currently, Mr. Padilla serves as Senior Advisor to Board members and officers representing a portfolio potential of 70 Fortune 500/1000 companies in 15 industries around the globe.

Prior to retirement from a 34-year global career at General Motors, Mr. Padilla’s last assignment was Global Senior Director, Public Policy, Corporate & Government Relations with expanded responsibilities for the General Motors Public Policy Center at General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Padilla led a variety of senior management assignments with increasing responsibilities during his long career at GM, with wide experience in global multi-functional, multi-sector and general management roles in achieving business turnarounds, growth, innovation, and cultural changes.

TLCI Founder Ysabel Duron says of Orlando Padilla, “As a fellow cancer survivor, Orlando also brings that voice of experience and compassion to the table. He has been a friend, colleague and supporter for many years, in particular, for the National Latino Cancer Summit. He nominated me to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). The experience gave birth to the idea of creating a national agency to amplify and leverage Latino voices around important cancer issues.”

Notable Awards & Recognition:
Mr. Padilla was named by Hispanic Business Magazine, “One of the Most Influential Hispanics.” He is on The Corporate Elite’s list of Top 100 Hispanic Executives. He was also named a Distinguished Alumni by New Mexico State University and is a founding member of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility Corporate Executive Forum, currently serving on the Board of Directors of 18 non-profit organizations.

Dr. Vivian Pinn is not just considered a pioneer in the field of medicine, but a groundbreaker who became “the first” to forge a path for herself as a woman of color as she pursed her endeavors:

In 1967, Dr. Pinn was the only African American and the only woman in her class to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Medicine; in 1982, Dr. Pinn became the first African American woman to chair an academic pathology department in the US at Howard University School of Medicine; in 1991, Dr. Pinn become the first full-time director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health, and in 2017, at the center of the UVA Health System hospital complex, which houses the UVA School of Medicine, a building was renamed PInn Hall in honor of this medical trailblazer.

L.D. Britt, chairman of the Health System’s board, said, “Her work at NIH on minority and women’s health has set the bar.” But it wasn’t an easy path said Dr. Pinn. “I do remember that it was the University that gave me the ability to be a physician, and therefore provided the foundation on which I built my career in medicine.” She also recalled sitting in the back of the classroom on the first day of medical school and realizing she was the only black person and the only woman in the class. “I was so discouraged,” Pinn said. “I was thinking when we broke for coffee that I should just go ahead and go home and call it a day.”

More importantly, Dr. Pinn did not give up but forged a path for women of color as a role model and advisor in biomedical careers. For women everywhere, her leadership at the NIH led to research on how a wide variety of health issues affect women in unique ways. This included studies of what particular diseases women get and the ways treatment and diagnosis may differ between women and men.

“Dr. Pinn first funded my former agency’s fledgling efforts to launch the National Latino Cancer Summit during her tenure at NIH. I am now pleased to call her a dear friend and colleague as she helps guide the Latino Cancer Institute,” said TLCI founder, Ysabel Duron.

Notable Awards & Recognition:
Dr. Pinn has won the Howard University College of Medicine, Women in Medicine, Woman of the Year Award, 1989; University of Virginia, Distinguished Alumna Award, 1992; Wellesley College, Alumni Achievement Award, 1993; Black Woman Hall of Fame Foundation, Chicago, Bethune Tubman Truth Award, 1990.