About Us | Vanguard Cancer Foundation

ABOUT VANGUARD CANCER FOUNDATION

Born from the dream of one dedicated physician and the love of a sister for her brother, Vanguard Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to empower cancer patients through education, awareness, and financial assistance to make informed decisions about their best cancer drug treatment options.

The Vanguard Cancer Foundation provides programs to educate patients and the public about personalized cancer treatment. It also funds endeavors that further the progress of specific research projects that support, validate, and advance the assay-directed approach for selecting drugs and combinations for cancer patients.

What We Believe

We believe that each patient is unique, and their cancer is too.
We believe that informed decisions in selecting treatment will help to improve outcomes, eliminate drug therapies least likely to be effective, and maximize time to fight cancer.
We believe that cancer therapy should be customized for each patient based on their unique tumor makeup.

What We Do

We educate patients and the public about assay-directed therapies and the importance of personalizing cancer treatments for each individual patient.
We provide cancer patients facing financial hardship with the opportunity to receive assay-directed therapy, which can provide vital information that will enable them to fight and potentially overcome illness.
We support specific cancer research projects that validate and advance assay-directed approaches for personalized cancer treatments and drug development.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

LISA KEATING - PRESIDENT

Attorney, BarthCalderon

Lisa has been involved with the Vanguard Cancer Foundation since its beginning in 1994. She was a founding member of Vanguard’s fundraising committee for their event evening in Brazil, later became Treasurer, and has held her current position as President since 2011.

Lisa still finds time to be active with other charities, including the Chance Theater in Anaheim (where she sits on the board of directors, Supports Illumination Foundation, and Tonks Feline Foster. She is also a former president of Western State University School of Law Alumni association and has been a volunteer at Legal Aid Society of Orange County.

Lisa Keating is an estate planning and asset protection attorney with

Barth-Calderon, LLP. Lisa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UCLA and graduated cum laude from Western State University College of Law with an emphasis program in Taxation.

STEVE EVANS - VICE PRESIDENT

Chief Operating Officer, Nagourney Cancer Institute

Steve Evans is a founding member of Vanguard Cancer Foundation, working with us since 1997. Today, he is Vice President of the organization. For over 34 years, Steve has been responsible for overseeing the laboratory and company operations of the Nagourney Cancer Institute (NCI). Steve leverages chemistry, biology, statistics, and physics education to analyze data for NCI’s scientific projects.

Steve has 25 years’ experience as a volunteer youth leader including as a Boy Scouts scoutmaster, AYSO Soccer coach, Little League baseball coach, SCYRHO hockey coach, and he has 8 years' experience as a hockey coach at Pacifica High School.

Steve received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from California State University, Long Beach in Experimental Psychology, with a minor in Biology.

TOLIVER MORRIS - TREASURER

Founder and CEO, William Morris Commercial, Inc.

Toliver is CEO and founder of William Morris Commercial and has distinguished himself as a leader in Southern California commercial real estate, having completed over 1,000 lease and sale transactions with a combined value of nearly $1 billion over a 25+ year career.

Toliver became treasurer for the Vanguard Cancer Foundation in 2012. He has been involved with many organizations and has served in a variety of leadership positions, including Downtown Long Beach Alliance (board chair), Orange County Business Bank (founding director), and Greater Long Beach YMCA (board member).

AMBER WYNN, MSPA - BOARD MEMBER

Principal, Amber Wynn, Philantrepreneur

Amber has served on the Vanguard Cancer Foundation Board of Directors since 2013. She has over 30 years' nonprofit experience in program development, strategic planning, fiscal management, nonprofit management, board development, capacity building, grant writing, and fund development (largest award totalling $3.2 million). As CEO of Amber Wynn, Philantrepreneur, a boutique consulting firm supporting nonprofit founders and executive directors, Amber utilizes her vast array of experiences to deliver disruptive innovation programs and services to achieve impactful social change.

Amber received her undergraduate degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, a Technical Writing Certificate from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and her Master of Science degree in Public Administration from California State University, Los Angeles. She has had board experience at Discorso (charter member), Toastmaster’s International, Peace Ambassadors International, DTLA Mission, and Debut Arts Academy.

GLENN BERNSTEIN - BOARD MEMBER

Senior Business Analyst

Glenn has served on the Vanguard Cancer Foundation Board of Directors, since September 2017. He is a 7-time leukemia survivor, who provides marketing and general business development expertise to both the Vanguard Cancer Foundation and the Nagourney Cancer Institute.

Glenn's education background includes a Master's of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics/Statistics from California State University, Long Beach.

KIMBERLY YAP - COORDINATOR

Nonprofit Coordinator

Kim has been with the Vanguard Cancer Foundation since 2010. She has over 30 years' business experience, including sales and marketing, accounting, business development, management, and writing.

Prior to her role at the Vanguard Cancer Foundation, Kim was a freelance writer, specializing in feel-good stories about people and families. Her writing was published by Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital, The Shea Center for Therapeutic Riding, and in a number of online publications. Through her writing, Kim learned of Dr. Robert Nagourney and met the Vanguard Board of Directors.

Kim graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Business Management. She has taken several courses in creative writing, poetry, and writing for children, which she puts to good use. When she is not working with Vanguard, Kim writes and publishes children’s books under the pen name Kim Ann.