On Friday, June 26th, we hosted our 16th annual National Conference on Work & Cancer virtually. We were thrilled to welcome a diverse group of over 760 participants, including patients, survivors, caregivers, HR professionals, nonprofit and healthcare workers, managers, coworkers, advocates, friends, and family members from both across the nation and around the world.
This year's speakers included oncologists, social workers, authors, employment experts, and, for the first time, a former professional athlete, all offering unique insights on navigating work and cancer. The conference had four sessions blending expert presentations and interactive discussions. We began with Ask the Experts: The Doctor’s Perspective, where a panel of medical oncologists shared how your healthcare team can help guide employment decisions, manage treatment side effects on the job, and explore work-friendly treatment options. Our second session, Connecting the Dots: Navigating Work & Cancer, covered essential employment-related topics including disclosure, job-search techniques, communication strategies (like “The Swivel”), balancing work and treatment, managing side effects, and more. The morning wrapped with the session Ask the Experts: Engaging HR where we were joined by a panel of representatives from Nestlé, Marriott International and Publicis Groupe who shared how their organizations are designing supportive ecosystems—from health and wellbeing programs to flexible work arrangements to manager education—and what you can do to advocate for yourself within any workplace, regardless of size, industry or resources.
The afternoon started with Navigating a New Chapter: Career Transitions and Cancer which was a candid and deeply personal conversation between CAC's Executive Director, Rebecca V. Nellis, and Katie Welch, Head of Brand and Company Communications, US at CHANEL, as Katie shared her experience receiving a cancer diagnosis in the same weeks she accepted a new role. We wrapped the day up with Connecting the Dots: Looking for Work, which offered a practical, confidence building look at how to approach the job search in a way that reflects your strengths.
In its fifth year, our Technology Assistance Program provided 25 laptops to cancer patients and survivors who otherwise would not have had access to a reliable device and would have been unable to attend the Conference. (If you are interested in being notified about future Technology Assistance Programs, click here.) As part of our continued commitment to accessibility, real-time closed captioning was also available for all attendees throughout the day.
If you were unable to join us for the Conference, please check out our upcoming live Balancing Work & Cancer Webinars where you’ll find deep dives into many of the issues explored during the day. We also offer these sessions on our video archive to replay at your convenience. In addition, registration is now open for our virtual West Coast Conference on Work & Cancer happening on Saturday, October 17th.
A huge final thanks to our sponsors:
Community Partners
A Fresh Chapter, ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program, Blood Cancer United, Bright Spot Network, Cactus Cancer Society, Cancer Nation, Cancer Pathways, Cancer Support Community, CancerCare, Cervivor Note, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, City Bar Justice Center, Colon Cancer Coalition, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Connecting Champions, Dear Jack Foundation, Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Elephants and Tea, First Descents, HairToStay, Health, Hope and Hip Hop, HealthTree Foundation, Imerman Angels, Inova Peterson Life with Cancer, International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation, Kidney Cancer Association, LUNGevity, Lymphoma Research Foundation, Male Breast Cancer Happens, Michelle's Place, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, New York Legal Assistance Group, Oncolink, Patient Advocate Foundation, Patient Empowerment Network, Sharsheret, Smart Patients, Stupid Cancer, Tell Every Amazing Lady® About Ovarian Cancer, Testicular Cancer Foundation, The Cancer Network, The Malcom Orlando Ivy Foundation, Ulman Foundation, Unite For HER, Working with Cancer, Young Survival Coalition