When Two Worlds Collide

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Community Blog
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Meet Nancy Levesque, Fight CRC’s new Director of Communications

Personal Connection to CRC

Every year, my mother dreads going in for her colonoscopy, but really, who doesn’t? The prep makes her sick for days. But for the last several years, she has had polyps removed, so as much as she hates it, every year she diligently gets screened.
My mom and I with her younger sisters, visiting Baltimore from Korea.
Several weeks ago, my mother called me sobbing. My emo (which is Korean for aunt), her younger sister, was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer after finding blood in her stool. Suddenly, those annual screenings and the dreaded prep that comes with them took on a whole new, much more personal, meaning as her sister fights for her life. Out of nowhere, this disease landed on my radar--although not yet 50, I have begun to talk with my doctor about when’s the time to start screening.

What Led me to Fight CRC

I’ve had some amazing moments in my nonprofit communications career, from leading a city-wide social marketing campaign to raising awareness of sexual assault reporting to working with Michelle Obama to encourage summer literacy to underserved youth, I’ve been so fortunate to have the opportunity to make an impact. Recently I found myself in a career transition, having left a K-12 education nonprofit, I decided to take on full-time consulting when I saw a job posting for, ‘Communications Director, Fight Colorectal Cancer.’ I’m not one to believe in signs, but I immediately thought of my emo in Korea and my mother. I applied immediately.

Here we go!

Fast forward to today, here I am. Danielle has done a tremendous job building the communications function from the ground up. I’m looking forward to taking the amazing work she and her team have done and leading it into the future. Fight CRC continues to experience fast and continuous growth. Colorectal cancer remains the number two-cancer killer. Through communications and awareness-building my hope is to continue to give patients, caregivers, all advocates, the communications resources they need to share their stories and experiences. I want Fight CRC’s communications to encourage even more conversations about our poop--I mean come on, we all do it! Maybe we don’t talk about it at the dinner table, but let’s be open about the worries and concerns we have about our health. Let’s talk to our family and friends. I also want to make sure our communications efforts are reaching and resonating with minority and underserved populations. I’m excited to work with each and every one of you to spread the word in the fight against this terrible disease. I hope you’ll join me by following Fight CRC on social media, sharing our posts with your family and friends, signing up for email or better yet, becoming an advocate. But most importantly, keep talking about colorectal cancer with your friends and family and the importance of screening--no matter how uncomfortable it is.