BRAVE Coalition Foundation Appoints Lisa Shumpert as New Executive Board President

The BRAVE Coalition Foundation has appointed Lisa Shumpert as the new President of its Executive Board, effective immediately. Shumpert brings extensive leadership experience to the role, having served most recently as Chief Human Resources Officer at Comar, where she developed organizational turnaround expertise. She is also the bestselling author of Team Turnaround - Spark High Performance in Your Direct Reports. The foundation, founded in 2012 by Dr. Allen Gabriel and Dr. Christine Grogan, identified significant gaps in care for women seeking breast reconstruction after cancer treatment.

The organization's mission focuses on addressing unmet needs in accessing breast reconstruction plastic surgeons. Despite the Women's Health Cancer Rights Act of 1988 (WHCRA) aiming to bridge care gaps, substantial challenges persist. These include difficulty finding doctors who accept insurance, lack of insurance coverage for many patients, and significant health disparities. Black women face a 38% higher mortality rate than white women and have less access to care. Shumpert expressed gratitude to outgoing leader John Gwin for preparing the organization for future growth over the past two years.

Shumpert outlined three primary goals for BRAVE under her leadership. First, expanding the network of breast and plastic surgeons to assist more patients. Second, increasing funding from donors to support the foundation's work. Third, continuing partnership with Northwestern University to enhance funding and education activities specifically aimed at helping black women access care. She emphasized that providing essential resources to patients remains a foundational goal. The foundation's work involves educating breast cancer survivors about reconstruction options, advocating for legislative and insurance industry changes, connecting patients with resources, and restoring quality of life regardless of insurance, socio-economic status, education level, or race.

This leadership transition comes at a critical time as healthcare disparities in breast cancer treatment and reconstruction access continue to affect vulnerable populations. The appointment signals BRAVE's commitment to scaling its impact through strategic leadership with proven organizational development experience. For more information about the foundation's work, visit https://www.bravecoalition.org.