Meet the SBC Early Stage Team

Meet SurvivingBreastCancer.org’s Early Stage Leadership Team! These SBC community members have all been diagnosed with breast cancer from stage 1-3. Our Early Stage Leaders are all 2+ years out of their initial diagnosis and treatment (including chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and immunotherapy).

Each team member will introduce themselves and share about their experience with SBC. We will learn about what the Early Stage Leadership Team does and what projects they’ve worked on in recent months. We will then move on to a Survivorship Panel, where our panelists will discuss what life has been like since completing active treatment.

Pooja Jain embodies multiple roles - daughter, sister, aunt, wife, and mother - while thriving as a breast cancer survivor. She's deeply passionate about integrative medicine practices like expressive writing, chair yoga, and Yog Nidra. The kitchen is a place where she seeks healing and self-care.

Engaging in volunteer work with Surviving Breast Cancer not only allows her to extend support but also fosters connections with others. She enjoys learning by utilizing resources such as podcasts, YouTube, books, and travel.

Meghan Staskal-Bradt lives in St. Charles, IL. Her two children are in middle and high school and keep her quite busy with activities and all the excitement associated with raising this age group. In addition to being a mom, she is also an instructor for the Adult Education program at Elgin Community College. In her free time she loves taking family vacations, reading, and being outside.

Carol Collins is a wife, mother, and CeCe to a beautiful granddaughter.  She was diagnosed with early-stage Her2+ IDC breast cancer in December 2021.  She was part of the first cohort of the Encourage & Empower program.  She has since volunteered as part of the Early-Stage Leadership Team as well as helps to moderate the SBC Facebook group.  She is also a survivor advocate for the State of Tennessee Cancer Coalition – West Region.  Carol facilitates a local in-person support group that meets monthly and supports all cancer fights, survivors, & thrivers in her area.

Julie Gore Cottrill lives in Doddridge County WV. She was diagnosed with stage 2 HER2+, ER+ IDC in 2021 at the age of 61. Julie began volunteering on the SBC Early Stage Leadership Team in 2023 and is an admin for Surviving Breast Cancer Facebook page. She is a one-on-one mentor for ABCD and Cancare. Julie is semi-retired and still works a few hours a week from home, for Hart Office Solutions, which is a small family-operated Toshiba copier business. Julie lost her husband of 40 years in March 2024. One of her goals is to bring support to other Breast Cancer Thrivers in north central WV.