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About CFE

Our Vision

The Cancer Free Economy (CFE) is a network cultivating an inclusive movement to promote healthy environments where no one gets sick because of toxic chemicals where they live, learn, work, and play.

 

We believe that cancer is an all-too-common diagnosis that devastates families and communities, for which a key opportunity for prevention has been largely left on the sidelines: hazardous chemicals in the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the products we use.

 

We believe everyone’s health matters, and that the most effective change comes from a holistic approach that engages new voices and strengthens existing movements.

Our History

Since 2014, the Cancer Free Economy has built a dynamic collaborative network among a diverse set of teams and stakeholders working together to  accelerate progress towards a healthy, regenerative economy.

 

The Cancer Free Economy proposal was submitted by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, Breast Cancer Fund (now Breast Cancer Prevention Partners), BlueGreen Alliance, Jenifer Altman Foundation and the New York Community Trust on January 1, 2014, and was chosen for multi-year funding from the Garfield Foundation’s Collaborative Network’s Initiative. A leadership team formed from this partnership and began the multi-year systems mapping process that has deeply guided our formation, and influences how we work today.

 

 

 

How We Work

Our strategies are derived from an in-depth multi-year process to analyze the “system” that has created an economy that depends on hazardous chemicals. This process gave us strategic insights and built a spectrum of productive, on-going relationships with a common goal—to lift the burden of cancer within a generation—and a shared understanding of how to achieve that goal effectively. 

 

The network is organized into working groups, teams that address different strategic pathways to a safer materials economy including:

Building Power, Health & Science, Shifting the Market, and Policy & Legal.

OUR TEAM

The current Network Council tasked with stewarding our work includes:

Kathryn Alcantar

Kathryn
Alcantar

Policy + Legal

Center for Environmental Health

California

Motaz
Attalla

Garfield Foundation

California

Kimathi Booth

Kimathi
Boothe

Building Power

Northern Oakland (Michigan) Branch NAACP

Michigan

Fred Brown

Fred
Brown

Market Shift

Forbes Funds

Pennsylvania

Marianne-Engelman-Lado

Marianne Engelman-Lado

Policy + Legal

Yale School of Forestry

New York

Audrey Tran Lam

Audrey E. Tran Lam

 

At-Large

Iowa

Katie Huffling

Katie
Huffling

At-Large

Kayla Williams

Kayla Williams

 

Market Shift Co-Lead

Clean Production Action

Massachusetts

Nsedu Witherspoon

Nsedu
Witherspoon

Health + Science

Children’s Environmental Health Network

Washington, DC

Deysi Flores
 

Building Power Co-Lead

Make The Road New York 

New York

Paula Torrado Plazas

At-Large

 

California

Leaders of our Initiative working groups outside the Network Council include:

Ann Blake Headshot

Ann

Blake

 

Climate, Toxics,

Health & Equity

California

Dr. Polly Hoppin

Polly

Hoppin

 

Health + Science 

University of MA – Lowell Center for Sustainable Production

Massachusetts

Monica Schrock Headshot

Monica 

Schrock  

 

2020 Elections 

Non-Toxic Revolution 

Oregon

David 

Levine

 

Childhood Cancer Prevention

American Sustainable Business Council

New York

The network is currently staffed by:

Debra Erenberg

Debra
Erenberg

 Strategic Director

Connecticut

Andrea
Braswell

Policy + Legal Coordinator

Center for Environmental Health

North Carolina

Saleem Chapman

Saleem Chapman

 

Policy & Legal Engagement Manager

Pennsylvania

Amanda Hernandez

Amanda
Hernandez

Health + Science Coordinator

Silent Spring Institute

Texas

Ana Pieczanski Headshot

Ana
Pieczanski

Fundraising Coordinator

Argentina

Anayana White

Anayana
White

Communications Coordinator

California

our 60+ Members reach
over a million people

The Cancer Free Economy Network is expanding the movement to protect people from harmful chemicals, uniting advocates and scientists working on cancer, public health, fossil-fuel reduction, and economic justice to name a few.

learn more about our work

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