[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Lara is the Founder of Hope Scarves, an international non-profit organization based in Louisville, KY. The mission of Hope Scarves is to share scarves, stories and hope with people facing cancer.
Lara started Hope Scarves as a way to turn her experience with cancer into something positive to help others. Lara was originally diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 30, 7 months pregnant with her second child. During treatment Lara received a box of scarves from a friend and a note saying, “you can do this.” When she finished treatment she shared these scarves with another woman then another woman and was touched by how much this simple gesture meant. Lara founded Hope Scarves in 2012 and operated out of her spare bedroom with her kids and several volunteers by her side. The organization quickly grew and has now sent over 10,000 scarves and stories to women in every state and 26 countries facing over 90 types of cancer. The oldest recipient is 97 and the youngest, 4. Each scarf comes creatively wrapped with a survivor story and scarf tying instructions. When an individual is ready she is encouraged to send the scarf back to Hope Scarves with her story to continue on to someone else. Some scarves already carry 4 stories. Lara affectionately calls Hope Scarves “the sisterhood of the traveling scarves.”
Lara’s professional background is in non-profit leadership. She has a master’s degree in Public Administration and worked in fundraising with several nonprofits for 11 years before starting one of her own. Lara has received many awards for her work through Hope Scarves including being named a Pink Power Mom through Kids II Foundation, Most Admired Woman in Nonprofit by Today’s Woman, 2017 Citizen Laurate by Louisville Younger Women’s Club, Cure Champion with American Cancer Society, The One Hundred award through Mass General Hospital in Boston, Keynote speaker for 100 wise women, winning Leadership Louisville’s Ignite Louisville Program, and being named Charity of the Year by Kentucky Derby Festival in 2014 and 2015. Lara was named to the 40 under 40 by Louisville Business First in 2016 and Hope Scarves was named Small Business of the Year People’s Choice Winner from Greater Louisville, Inc.
After 7 years in remission Lara’s cancer returned. She now faces terminal metastatic stage IV breast cancer. In response to this diagnosis Lara expanded the mission of Hope Scarves to invest in metastatic breast cancer research. She is an advocate partner with The MBC Project at Harvard and The Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. She also help found The MBC Research Collective – a group of funders to work in collaboration to support cutting edge research. Lara working tirelessly to help people understand advanced breast cancer and raise much-needed funds to accelerate research. To date Hope Scarves has raised over $150,000 for research. Lara shares her experiences in a widely followed blog, www.myhopefullife.org
Lara lives each day to the fullest with intention and joy. She holds tightly to the power of hope and treasures beautiful moments in the midst of on-going treatment. Lara loves to run, sail, spend time with friends and family and travel. She and her husband Jay call Louisville, KY home and have two sons, Wills and Bennett.
