fbpx
Skip to toolbar

OUR VISION, How WE Work + history

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 the communities most affected and from a holistic approach that engages new voices and strengthens existing movements.

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. 

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

Building Power to Shift Markets, and Health and Science.

Our work is grounded in and guided by these Equity Principles.

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 for all.

A healthy economy for all means paying special attention to the voices on the frontlines. That’s why CFE has re-focused our work to include annual cohorts of emerging BIPOC leaders in the Emerging Leaders Cohort, as well as to center the voices of Black and Brown leaders in our Network Council and Executive Committees.

For historical reference, the Cancer Free Economy proposal was initially submitted by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, Breast Cancer Fund (now Breast Cancer Prevention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.

our 70+ 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

@

Not recently active