This event will be a powerful World Cancer Day gathering centered on a community-led panel discussion addressing the cancer disproportionately affecting the Black community, paired with a vision moment for Bridgette’s House and time for connection through food, vendors, and music.

Interested in volunteering at this event?

• The Office of Healthcare Equity will be present at this event and would be grateful to have University of Washington Medicine and Health Sciences students, faculty, or staff represent their departments or work. Please reach out to us at ohce@uw.edu for more information.

About the event

Each year, Cierra Sisters proudly honors World Cancer Day, aligning their work with a global call to raise awareness, reduce disparities, and advocate for equitable access to cancer education, prevention, and care especially within the Black community. This year their event will be called Our Health, Our Voices, Our Future! It will be a powerful, community-centered gathering designed to inform, connect, and mobilize.

At the heart of the morning is our featured panel discussion, The Big Five: Understanding the Cancers Disproportionately Affecting Us. Stories, Strength, and Community. Five distinguished panelists will lead an anchored, accessible conversation exploring the cancers that most significantly affect the Black community. Through personal stories, professional insight, and shared dialogue, the panel will create space for education, truth-telling, and empowerment grounded in knowledge, advocacy, and community care.

This program is intentionally designed to move from awareness to action. Guests will experience moments of reflection, recognition, and vision-setting with a presentation on the Bridgette’s House project, Cierra Sisters’ long-term vision for a rest and respite center for women navigating cancer. The gathering concludes with a communal meal, a curated vendor marketplace, music, and opportunities for connection because information, healing, and joy are strongest when shared in community.

This event is promoted as a community resource and is not sponsored by UW Medicine or the Office of Healthcare Equity. Per University policy, this promotion is conditioned on the understanding that the opportunity is open to all individuals regardless of race, color, national origin, or sex.