Teen Cancer America Inc
Empower the Future by Transforming Lives
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Adolescents and young adults are a unique population, with unique needs — especially when they’ve been diagnosed with cancer. But in most American communities today, there’s no such thing as youth-centered cancer care. Instead: -Young patients fall into a gap between pediatric and adult oncology. Hospitalized with children and elders, with no age-appropriate social support — they often experience extreme isolation and psychological challenges. -With no youth cancer standards to guide them, physicians and nurses often must modify pediatric or adult oncology protocols for teens and young adults. -For some cancers that affect this age group, there have been few if any advances in decades. And with little research focused on the youth population, we still don’t know why teens and young adults get often rare, high-mortality cancers.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Hospital Programs and Services
Teen Cancer America is a change agent improving the lives of young people with cancer by revolutionizing hospitals. We partner with hospitals across the country to activate strategies, create needed facilities, and develop services that meet the special requirements of teens and young adults with cancer. We enhance the standards for age-targeted care, accelerate collaboration between pediatric and adult specialists, and stimulate dedicated research to improve outcomes and survival for our young people.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of young people with cancer impacted by partner & consulted hospitals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the amount of young people(13-39 years of age) with cancer who have received care at a TCA partnered or consulted hospital or have participated in a TCA cancer care program.
Number of states TCA programs are in
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of cities TCA programs are in
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of consulted hospitals this year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of grants gifted to TCA partner hospitals developing AYA spaces and/or programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of AYA program staff partially or fully funded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Pledged funds (committed by contract, including future stage payments) over all years
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Adults, Young adults
Related Program
Hospital Programs and Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Team Cancer America is a movement to empower and improve the lives of young people with cancer. No other enterprise in the nation does what we do: We create youth-centered ecosystems that support young people with cancer, their families, and healthcare professionals. Teen Cancer America integrates everything required to champion a comprehensive youth-centered approach to cancer in hospitals and health systems throughout America.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
-We partner with hospitals and philanthropists across the country to activate strategies, create needed facilities, and develop services that meet the special requirements of teens and young adults with cancer.
-We build youth-friendly environments — real and virtual — that enhance the care experience for patients, families, and care teams, facilitating connections and cultivating a sense of community.
-We enhance standards for age-targeted care, accelerate collaboration between pediatric and adult specialists, and stimulate dedicated research to improve outcomes and survival for our young people.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Although Teen Cancer America has officially operated in the USA since 2012, we have a much longer history with teen and young adult cancer and a track record for success that has reached tens of thousands of young people.
TCA is an independent organization, but our story begins in the United Kingdom with the Teenage Cancer Trust, launched in 1989. Before Teenage Cancer Trust opened its first teen and young adult-focused hospital unit in 1990, there was no specialized cancer care for young people offered within the UK’s National Health Service — or anywhere in the world. Today, 28 specialist units and teams of expert nurses and youth support staff in NHS hospitals across the UK offer young people the very best care and support from the moment they hear the word “cancer.”
Here in America, led by the former CEO of TCT, we are a focused, highly effective team that is providing expert consultancy and funds for hospitals throughout the country.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 10 years, we have partnered with 43 hospitals, supporting over 104,000 young people and their family members. We have raised over $20,000,000 to provide grants to new and existing hospital partners. A further 90+ hospitals engage with TCA to develop future programs, yet there are still vast regions of the country without access to youth-appropriate cancer care. We are ready to replicate our model for change across the US. Every day, more hospitals and healthcare systems reach out to work with us. We can provide the expertise and resources they need to:
-Build and equip youth cancer care units.
-Create facilities where young people and their families can connect with each other and with vital resources.
-Support integrated care teams — oncologists, nurses, psychologists, program managers, nurse/patient navigators.
-Launch youth-centered care programs, including emotional therapy, fertility counseling, survivorship support, and end-of-life care.
-Develop and share best practices and advance research.
-Ensure young people have equal access to age-appropriate cancer care regardless of: race, socioeconomic status, religion, country of origin, veteran status, disability status, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or any other identifying characteristic.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Teen and young adults ages13-39 with cancer or who have experienced cancer.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Teen Cancer America Inc
Board of directorsas of 02/23/2022
Rebecca Rothstein
Merrill Lynch
Term: 2012 -
Howard Jaffe
Bill Curbishley
Beck Mancuso-Winding
Maria Taylor
Glenn Taylor M.D.
Gerald Grant MD, FACS
Jordan Kaplan
Robert Rosenberg
Rick French
Darren Strowger
Zach Cohen
Char Fowler
Deborah Montaperto
Jeff Ward
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/27/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.