RDCR Speaker Bios

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Dr. Sandra Steingraber

Biologist, author, and former cancer patient, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. writes about climate change, ecology, and the links between human health and the environment.

 

Sandra’s highly acclaimed book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment, was the first to bring together data on toxic releases with data from U.S. cancer registries, and was adapted for the screen in 2010. As both book and documentary film, Living Downstream has won praise internationally.

 

Continuing the investigation begun in Living Downstream, her books, Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood and Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, explore the intimate ecology of pregnancy and reveal the ways in which environmental hazards now threaten each stage of infant and child development. Throughout, she calls parents and cancer patients alike to political action.

 

Sandra has been named Woman of the Year by Ms. Magazine, Person of the Year by Treehugger, and one of 25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World by the Utne Reader. She is the recipient of the biennial Rachel Carson Leadership Award and the Jenifer Altman Foundation’s Altman Award for “the inspiring and poetic use of science to elucidate the causes of cancer.” Sandra received a Hero Award from the Breast Cancer Fund and the Environmental Health Champion Award from Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles.

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A contributing essayist and editor for Orion magazine, she is currently a Senior Scientist at the Science and Environmental Health Network. For more information about Sandra visit: sehn.org  (Photo credit: laurakozlowski.com)
 

CoCo Villaluz

CoCo Villaluz is the Health Equity Manager for the American Indian Cancer Foundation, and has been working in community mobilization, education, and policy work for the past 20 years.

She has experience in addressing the sacred use of tobacco, as one of the founding members of the Native American Tobacco Coalition of Montana (NATCOM), and has partnered with many diverse organizations including Tobacco Policy Sharing Knowledge in Native Societies (TPSKINS), the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Cancer Society, and Many Voices, One Message. CoCo has presented at regional, statewide, national and international conferences, including the Global Youth Advocacy Training in Washington D.C. She has also participated in the FDA Stakeholder's discussion for American Indian communities.

 

Some of CoCo’s proudest accomplishments include passing the Fort Peck No Smoking Resolution for her tribe, being selected to present at the Auahi Kore (Smoke-Free) Conference in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and passing the Ohinni Candi Wakandapi/Chani Wakan K/Nusa Commercial Tobacco-Free Ordinance for her home community. She incorporates different art forms into prevention activities to address commercial tobacco control. Her overall goal is to promote indigenous cultural wellness of our communities for generations to come.

 

CoCo is the recipient of the National Indian Health Board 2016 Regional Area Impact Award for advancing American Indian and Alaska Native health. And she was selected to be a keynote panelist at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Austin, TX in 2017.

 

CoCo joined Breast Cancer Action’s Board of Directors in 2018.

 

Dr. Krystal Redman

Rooted in her political lineage of grassroots organizing and activism toward Black and queer liberation and health equity in the heart of Louisiana, Dr. Redman centers her work in Health Justice, the liberation of folx who reside deep within the margins, and in Reproductive Justice. She is a self-published author, and a frequent speaker throughout sexual and reproductive justice, and health justice movements, as well as in the public health sector. They bring over 16 years of experience in leading health promotion and disease prevention initiatives, as well as organizing towards equitable access, care and treatment within community-based and centered programs. Prior to beginning her relationship with Breast Cancer Action, Krystal has held executive leadership positions within public health and healthcare organizations. They also continue to lead a southern-based reproductive justice organization. Mainly, her roles have centered on working to expand resources, information, health education, and access to equitable care and coverage to young people, womxn, and families.

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Jayla Burton, MPH

Jayla is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with dual Masters Degrees in Public Health and Behavioral Health Science. She has a passion for reducing health disparities, promoting social justice, and advocating for best practices in healthcare. She has worked in Global Health, Women’s Health, Behavioral Health, and Harm Reduction, and she admires Breast Cancer Action’s drive to identify the root causes of breast cancer. As the Program Manager, Jayla works to execute the Think Before You Pink® (TB4UP) campaign and all other national campaigns. She also facilitates engagement year-round, promoting policy and educational advocacy campaigns. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and learning about different cultures’ dance styles and techniques. She is originally from Ohio, but enjoys the Bay Area and all it has to offer.

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Luna Malbroux

Luna Malbroux is an award-winning comedian, writer and playwright whose work has been featured in media outlets all over the world.  She fuses her experience as a skilled facilitator, consultant and educator of justice, equity, inclusion, diversity and cultural humility in all of her creative endeavors. But as a comic, that doesn’t mean she packs any less of a punch. Her specialty is in the synthesizing of genres - from turning the documentary experience Mapping Privilege into an award-winning play, How to Be a White Man to blending jazz, comedy, storytelling and a good ol’ fashion groove with her band, The Moon and The Man.

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Winner of the Comedy Hackday Grand Prize at SF Sketchfest, Luna has made international headlines as the creator of EquiTable, an app that satirically solves the wage gap by creating 'reparations, one meal at a time.' A regular contributor to national publications, Luna has been featured on NPR, PBS, AJ+, Glamour Magazine, The Atlantic and more.  Tastefully crude, Luna is also the host and creator of Live Sex, the live and recorded ongoing comedy talk show that unpacks sexuality and relationships. Originally from Louisiana, Luna has dazzled audiences all across the United States with her Southern charm mixed with bold humor as a feature at festivals and clubs alike.