Andrea Ivory is an educator and an award-winning promoter of breast cancer awareness and heart health for women.

Women's Breast and Heart Initiative

Ivory was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 2004. After receiving treatment and recovering fully, she wanted to help women like herself. The Women's Breast and Heart Initiative (WBHI) was founded by Ivory in 2005 with the goal of encouraging early detection and treatment for breast cancer and

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged American women. During the first WBHI campaign, launched in 2006, representatives did door-to-door campaigning at 70,000 homes in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. WBHI has provides referrals for women living in other neighborhoods. Over 500 at-risk women receive services through WBHI each year. In 2013, the Women's Breast and Heart Initiative started to tackle issues of heart disease as well as breast cancer. WBHI serves door-to-door awareness and education, nutrition classes and work-out sessions, and

breast cancer screening Breast cancer screening is the medical screening of asymptomatic, apparently healthy women for breast cancer in an attempt to achieve an earlier diagnosis. The assumption is that early detection will improve outcomes. A number of screening tests ...

and care coordination for females. WBHI collaborates with the Jackson Health System in

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

for

mammograms Mammography (also called mastography) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through d ...

, cholesterol tests, and

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

screenings.

Education and career

In 2013, Ivory graduated as a notable alumna from Barry University's School of Professional and Career Education. In addition to founding WBHI, Ivory has been a delegate in the Florida Division of the American Cancer Society's 2nd Summit on Breast Cancer and the National Breast Cancer Coalition's Advocacy Conferences and Lobby Days located in Washington, DC.

Awards

Ivory has been honored for the name of a Top 10

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Hero and the recipient of a

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...

Community Health Leader Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivory, Andrea Living people People from Florida Breast cancer awareness Year of birth missing (living people) Barry University