Insights on Building Mission-Driven Organizations
Practical lessons from 15+ years of leadership across nonprofits, real estate, and healthtech. Topics include AI implementation, nonprofit operations, business systems, and what it takes to scale organizations without losing your mission.
2011: The Year We Almost Didn't Make It
By the end of 2011, Stupid Cancer had $13,000 in the bank.
That number still sits heavy when I say it out loud.
It wasn't just a low balance. It was the weight of a year that had gone completely sideways. Behind the scenes, people were updating resumes. Conversations got careful. Nobody was optimistic about what came next or if there would even be a next.
When Stupid Cancer Rang the NASDAQ Opening Bell
Every once in a while, something comes up in conversation that stops you for a second and makes you realize just how much time has passed.
Not long ago, someone asked me about the day Stupid Cancer rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ. They talked about it like it had just happened. I nodded along and then later did the math. It has been just over ten years. That honestly surprised me. It still feels recent. The details are still clear. The energy of that morning has not really left.
What I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation Really Was
Before it was Stupid Cancer.
Before it had a national summit, a recognizable brand, or a seat at policy tables.
Before the language of AYA oncology entered the mainstream.
I’m Too Young For This! was a refusal.
It was a refusal to accept that young adults with cancer should quietly disappear into the space between pediatric and adult care. A refusal to accept isolation as normal. A refusal to believe that survivorship only counted if you were old enough to be taken seriously.
The Problem With Giving Tuesday: Noise, Fatigue, And Burnout
I remember when Giving Tuesday first appeared on the scene. Back then I was at Stupid Cancer, running operations, building digital infrastructure, and trying to hold together a national movement with passion, long nights, and whatever technology we could afford. The idea of Giving Tuesday felt refreshing. A global moment where generosity could rise above the noise of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It felt like the kind of thing a young nonprofit ecosystem needed.
But even in those early years, something became obvious. The noise did not disappear. It got louder.
