The Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA) Team
BCA has a small staff team. This includes an executive director who is a lobular breast cancer survivor and found her calling to lead as she interacted with LBCA volunteers and founders during her own medical odyssey. In addition, LBCA works closely with founding patient advocate volunteers who have explicit roles with LBCA.
Laurie Hutcheson, MS, ILC Patient Advocate & Executive Director of LBCA, has been a leader in health care program development, management and strategic direction in organizations in Massachusetts and nationwide for over 40 years. Laurie received her MS in health policy and management in 1989 from Harvard University, T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her experience includes executive roles including deputy assistant secretary of health and human services in the Massachusetts executive office of health and human services, and vice president of Riverside Community Care, a large community-based behavioral health organization. She has also consulted in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health care programs around the country, with her own consulting practice and as a Fellow with the National Academy for State Health Policy. More …
Mason Mitchell-Daniels, MPH, MSW, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Research, has 15 years of experience working in the fields of health policy and public health. She has a dual interest in direct service and public policy, which led her to begin her career training in social work and public health. Throughout her career in policy, Mason has worked in positions focused on bringing stakeholder voices to the table. In her work with volunteers and as COO, Mason assists LBCA in expanding its reach as a powerful advocacy organization.
Amie Kolodziej, MA, Director of Marketing & Communications, has decades of experience in marketing and communications for national and international organizations. Amie has an extensive background in strategic content development, communications, brand and event management for nonprofit organizations in diverse industries and causes, and has focused her career supporting mission-driven organizations. She also serves on the Board of Directors for nonprofit organizations providing leadership in marketing and communications strategy. She has a BS in Communications from CSU, and a Masters in Nonprofit Organizational Management from Johns Hopkins University.
Shannon Sotomayor, Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications, is a Chicago-based communications professional with more than a decade of experience in healthcare and mission-driven organizations. She brings to the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance a track record of strategic storytelling, donor communications, and content strategy across digital, print, and video — all in service of amplifying patient voices and advancing meaningful health outcomes. Shannon holds a BA in English from Brown University.
Carrie Burns, Development Associate, brings 20 years of fund development experience to the LBCA team. During her career with nonprofit organizations, she has successfully expanded support and awareness for those causes. After her 2021 ILC diagnosis, Carrie is honored and excited to transfer her mission driven development experience to the LBCA mission. Carrie is passionate about getting to know supporters, understanding their “Why?” and connecting those to advance philanthropic goals.
Gitte Henssel Joergensen, PhD, Research Associate, is a lobular breast cancer survivor and research advocate with a strong commitment to ensuring that patient voices are integrated into cancer research, funding, and healthcare decision-making. She serves as a grant reviewer for organizations including PCORI, Komen, and the Department of Defense and is active in national cancer research organizations focused on advancing patient-centered approaches. Gitte brings both scientific training and lived experience to her work, bridging the gap between researchers and the patient community, with a particular focus on improving awareness and outcomes for those affected by invasive lobular carcinoma.
Janice Axelrod, Research and Communication Officer, is a retired physician gynecologic oncologist, who devoted her professional life to treating women with gynecologic malignancies and was a member and principle investigator of the Gynecology Oncology Group, a research group for gynecologic malignancies. Now retired and a lobular breast cancer survivor, she is focused on breast cancer research advocacy. Her interests include research, patient education, and reaching out to clinicians about lobular breast cancer. More …
Julie Ray, MBA, Volunteer Treasurer is a retired Chief Financial Officer with over two decades of not-for-profit business experience working in the independent education industry. With focus on organizational financial and operational strategies, Julie
supports LBCA in executive and governance responsibilities of financial strategy and compliance as well as in charitable strategic initiatives. Julie has attended various medical and patient advocacy research and educational sessions, and she lives in and serves on an LBCA Local Advocacy Team in the Carolinas.