For the Girls

Four sisters, four routine mammogram screenings, four breast cancer diagnoses.

For Sheri Mathis (’85 BBA), it was especially stunning. Her family had no history of breast cancer, and none of the sisters carry the BRCA genes that make developing breast cancer more likely.

“I fully believe that we are the lucky ones—the mammograms saved our lives,” says Mathis. “But I’ve since learned that not everyone is quite so lucky. Too many women lack access to these basic screening mammograms.”

Even mid-treatment, Mathis—now a two-time breast cancer conqueror, as she likes to say—knew she wanted to do something about this health care disparity. Borne from a desire to help and to turn her experience into something positive and empowering, she founded Mammogram Poster Girls, a reference to what she called herself and her sisters after their diagnoses.

“When something like the diagnosis happens, I have to put that energy somewhere,” Mathis said. “I’m putting the energy into taking care of myself, but I also don’t want the focus to be so much on me. I want to take that energy and put it out into the universe.”

Since its founding in 2018, Mammogram Poster Girls has launched a number of initiatives focused on providing underserved communities access to screening and diagnostic mammograms. To date, the organization has provided over 1,500 screening and diagnostic procedures for early detection of breast cancer.