Connecting Champions

Connecting Champions is a nonprofit that asks kids and young adults with cancer, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and connects them with a local mentor for the cancer journey. Our evidence-based, outcomes-driven approach has helped hundreds of children and young adults from across the country better survive the cancer journey — developmentally, psychosocially, and physically — and envision life beyond the disease. Through our in-person and virtual friendship programs, we’ve paired 3- to 26-year-olds with mentors from 50+ career paths, such as fashion, zoology, and NASA engineering. Our mentors are there every step of the way, during treatment and into survivorship, to help kids and young adults (1) manage severe family distress, (2) reach child development milestones, (3) reclaim their identity, and (4) develop an actionable post-cancer plan.