when I decided we have got to find some way to raise money ourselves because they are not doing it.” She and her colleagues at METAvivor have accomplished that mission. Since 2009, the organization has raised more than $18 million through fundraisers and donations. That money has gone into 185 research grants. After co-founding METAvivor, Corneliussen-James, who holds a B.A. in German literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a master’s degree in international management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, served as president of the national chapter for six years, until 2015. In 2011, she joined the Global Alliance for Metastatic Breast Cancer, and later she spoke at three international conferences in Portugal. “The success of the organization has been astounding,” says Kelly Lange, who served on METAvivor’s national board of directors for a decade. “And a lot was due to her vision. Her message definitely resonated.” Lange offers a dramatic example. “I will always remember going to a conference in Philadelphia and people had our logo tattooed on their bodies because of our organization and everything it meant to them.”
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whatsupmag.com | November 2021 | What’s Up? Annapolis
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