Ages 18–35 · During treatment and after

The gap on the resume isn't the problem. Not knowing anyone is.

A volunteer-led network for AYAs — adolescents and young adults — whose careers were interrupted by cancer. One comfortable conversation at a time, with people who already know your story.

Get connected →
What an interrupted career looks like
First job age 22 Diagnosis, treatment, recovery two years, no work history Ready to work age 25 One conversation First job age 22 Diagnosis, treatment, recovery two years, no work history Ready to work age 25 One conversation

Our criteria

Ages 18–35
Any diagnosis
Any industry
Remote or local
Free, always
85,000+ adolescents & young adults diagnosed with cancer in the US each year
1 in 24 of all US cancer diagnoses happen between ages 15–39
~88% survive five years or more — and come back to careers on pause

Source: National Cancer Institute, SEER

Two colleagues talking through something together on a laptop in a shared office

Stock photo · replace with a real match when you can

What we do

We don't give career advice. We give you a person inside the building.

Networking and coffee chats are a vital part of any job search — but when cancer has interrupted your career, every one of those conversations starts with explaining the gap. A diagnosis in your twenties or early thirties lands at the exact moment a career is supposed to be forming, and the hardest part of coming back isn't the missing time on a resume. It's the moment in every conversation where you either account for it or steer around it.

Here, that moment has already happened before anyone speaks. We match you with a volunteer who works in the field you're aiming for and who already knows your situation — so the conversation can be about where you're headed, not what you've been through.

It starts as one 30-minute conversation. Sometimes that's all it is, and that's enough. Often it becomes a chain: they introduce you to someone they know, who knows someone else — and step by step, a network rebuilds. Where it fits, a warm referral happens too. But the first step is the point.

How to get involved

Colleagues in a meeting room smiling at a laptop together

For AYA patients & survivors

Want to get connected to our network?

If cancer took the job, the offer, or the years you'd have spent building a network, this is a comfortable way back in. No cost, no minimum recovery stage, no obligation to talk about being sick — and no pressure for anything to 'come of it.' A first conversation is the win.

Join the network →
Two coworkers in conversation at a desk in an open office

For professionals

Want to become a volunteer?

You don't need a cancer history or a coaching background. Many of our volunteers have been touched by cancer all the same — through their own experience or someone they love. You need a job and thirty minutes. You won't be asked to get anyone hired — just to have an honest conversation about your field with someone who's ready to think about their future again. We handle the matching and the scheduling — all we ask first is an initial Zoom vetting session with our team before you're matched.

Volunteer with us →