NANCY HERARD-MARSHALL

Nancy is a mother, wife, former dancer/actress, teacher, therapist, and healer, who uses her various life experiences to empower and foster healing. As an educator and visiting instructor, Nancy has taught Cultural Competency and Social Justice in the Creative Arts Therapies at Pratt Institute, where she also served as co-curriculum consultant to dismantle and decolonize the current educational program. Before her MBC diagnosis, she maintained a private practice as the proprietor of Gaya Healing Arts, where she provided services to her community as a psychotherapist, dance/movement therapist, authentic movement practitioner, and Ra Sekhi Kemetic Reiki practitioner. Nancy utilizes artistic, contemporary, and ancestral healing techniques as emotional support to Black, Indigenous, people of color from a culturally affirming therapeutic approach. All of this speaks to Nancy’s lifelong path of being a resource for and within her community.

In 2013 Nancy was diagnosed with DCIS and completed aggressive treatment. However, in 2020 during the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, to her and her family’s devastation, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Although navigating the diagnosis has proved to be challenging while wearing her many hats, Nancy has continued to show up for herself, her family, and her community the best way she knows how.

Moving into patient advocacy, Nancy looks forward to extending her work to include the metastatic breast cancer community. She a Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) 2021 Hear My Voice MBC leadership alumna, a member of Komen’s MBC Steering Committee and Grasp Advocate. She has spoken on panels in Susan G. Komen webinars regarding palliative care as well as integrative & complementary therapies. Nancy is honored and proud to be an individual member of the MBC Alliance and looks forward to increasing her advocacy work to amplify the voices of those living with MBC.