Eileen Z. Fuentes, wife and mother of 3 girls was diagnosed with stage IIA, triple negative breast cancer in 2008 at just 34 years old. Since then she has become a fierce advocate for all women with breast cancer, with a focus on the most vulnerable of cancer patients. Eileen founded and led the free bilingual wellness program for cancer patients in collaboration with the Herbert Irving Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center where she now works full-time addressing disparities in cancer care, and using care and communication strategies that are culturally appropriate.

Eileen is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, she took part in The Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Program via a scholarship from the Livestrong Foundation and serves as training faculty at the Smith Center Integrative Patient Navigation program. She earned an advanced certification from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and also completed the Food Therapy program at the esteemed Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health where she has also served as guest teacher. She was as a Just Food®️ chef, teaching community members how to prepare local, seasonal meals. She is a certified African-heritage plant-based cooking instructor and also took part in the Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Farmers Immersion at Soulfire Farm.

Eileen is a sought after speaker who has spoken nationally for organizations including Memorial Sloan-Kettering, The Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, TEDMED Live 2013. Her op-ed on the proposed health care bill appeared in the NY Daily News. The NY Post and The Society for Human Resources Magazine (SHRM), which have also highlighted her advocacy work. She has been quoted in the New York Times, appeared in a JetBlue commercial with her family, and was featured in Latina magazine. She was selected as one of ‘Lincoln Motor Vehichle’s – 2014 “Ladies of Lincoln” recipients and was honored with the “2016 – I am powerful” award at the 6th Annual Latina Empowerment Conference. She maintains active memberships with Columbia University’s Integrative Health Collaborative, The Association for Drugless Practitioners, The Society of Integrative Oncology, and the International Association of Health Coaches. Most recently, she was selected as one of the first community advocates for the NCI-supported SWOG Cancer Research Network, which is dedicated to improving the practice of medicine in preventing, detecting, and treating cancer and to enhance the quality of life for cancer survivors.

For more information visit her website: www.eileenzfuentes.com.