How I Became Co-Founder of Stupid Cancer
In 2007, Matthew Zachary started something bold. Drawing from his own experience as a young adult cancer survivor, he founded I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation—a grassroots nonprofit built to connect, empower, and advocate for people navigating cancer in their teens, twenties, and thirties. At the time, there was virtually nothing out there for that age group. Matt gave it a voice, a face, and a mission.
I first crossed paths with Matt in 2009 when I was a senior at Farmingdale State College. What started as a bold cold email turned into an internship, then a job offer just before graduation, and eventually a full-time role helping grow the organization from the inside out. Over the years, I took on operations, tech, events, merchandise, partnerships—you name it, we all wore a lot of hats.
In 2012, we made a major shift: rebranding from I’m Too Young For This! to Stupid Cancer. It was more than a name change. It was a signal to the world that we weren’t going to whisper our mission—we were going to shout it. We wanted to make noise for the millions of young adults affected by cancer who felt invisible.
As part of that transition, Matt gave me the honorary title of Co-Founder. It wasn’t something I asked for or expected—but it meant a great deal. It acknowledged not just my work, but our shared belief in building something that hadn’t existed before. I felt honored then, and I still do.
Stupid Cancer gave me purpose, community, and a crash course in building meaningful things from the ground up. And though I’ve since moved on, that chapter remains one of the most formative experiences of my life.
