Featured guest interview
The Nonprofit Arena | Sherry Higgs
About Sherry Higgs
In February 2010, at age 43, Sherry Higgs was diagnosed with a rare, and potentially life threatening breast cancer called IBC or Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
Prior to her diagnosis, Sherry worked for 15 years at a Fortune 500 company as a successful Account Executive. She worked with various sized companies implementing full suites of solutions for payroll and Human Resource needs.
Today, Sherry’s passion for living, writing and sharing has led her to chronicle her experiences from the day of diagnosis to present date through her writings and inspirations as shown on https://www.facebook.com/BoobisbobwithanO. Through her writing, she connects and educates others on breast cancer related issues in a caring way that survivors, their family, their friends can relate and be inspired to advocate for positive change. Sherry has been featured on the cover of San Francisco Chronicle along with a front page story of the local section of The Argus. Tri-City Voice, Bay Area News Group/Fremont Bulletin, and Tracy Press have also shared her story. She has also been covered on local on-line newspapers, such as Fremont/Newark/Union City Patch (AOL). Sherry appeared on KPIX CBS 5 evening news in an interview for Dr. Kim Mulvihill’s Healthcare segment and most recently on NBC’s Bay Area Proud after being shadowed by Reporter Garvin Thomas for the day. Sherry’s articles and interview can be found on her LinkedIn page, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherryhiggs.
Sherry’s community educator work is most impactful when sharing her personal story which she does throughout the community. She has spoken for numerous service organizations such as the various local Chamber of Commerce Chapters, neighboring Rotary Clubs, The Lions Club, Citizens for Better Community, Soroptimist, Kiwanis, various church groups and community libraries. In November 2013 she will be a guest speaker for Breast Cancer Connections Annual Convention.
Most recently Sherry was awarded into 2013 Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame as an Honoree for her achievements in Health.
Sherry’s desire to be an agent of change has set her on a mission to assist cancer patients. This passion has led to the creation of a newly formed 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charitable public organization, Drivers for Survivors. This foundation offers transportation services and companionship during treatments to oncology patients undergoing treatment in the Tri-city area of Newark, Fremont, and Union City.
Holly studied International Business Management at Brigham Young University – Hawaii and Utah State University.
Interview Transcript:
Sherry Higgs
I want to talk about that going from the idea of doing nonprofit organization to really what it took. So what’s the story, you definitely have to have a passion for your cause, because that’s energizing, and you need to have a lot of energy. Having that propels you. Networking is hugely important too, to be honest with you. I was willing to talk to anybody and everybody and information gather. Another thing you need to do is you need to also do your homework in terms of nonprofits find out in in the state you live in what your legal ramifications are for the different variables that you have to have, for example, surance workers comp insurance or you know, your filings, you need to have a good lawyer. I was really blessed out of the gate to get some really good people involved. And so that was very helpful to me and I followed their lead on the legal matters and the implementation was not easy. It takes some time. But again, I was fortunate that the turnaround time was quicker than I was quoted. So I really feel lucky because I got to basically hit the ground running.
We hope you enjoyed this interview; “The Nonprofit Arena | Sherry Higgs”.