Meet Karen! She’s been with The Max Foundation since 2024, working as a Program Coordinator in our Latin America region. Learn more about why she started with the organization, what her work week looks like, and a special memory she had with a patient.
What drew you to join The Max Foundation, and why does our mission resonate with you?
What motivated me to join The Max Foundation was knowing that I could contribute in my own small way to helping other people, and that my daily work would have a different purpose from anything I had done before: making a positive impact on someone’s life.
What is a special memory you have with patients?
One special memory I have is when I attended my first patient meeting in El Salvador, shortly after I started working at The Max Foundation. I hadn’t been talking with the patients for very long, but when I met them, I felt such a warm welcome and so much gratitude, even though they barely knew me. It was truly a joy for my heart.
Describe a typical work week
If you could describe The Max Foundation in three words, what would they be?
If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
Conflict resolution
What languages do you speak?
What do you love most about where you live?
I really like that it’s a country where you can go from the beach to the forest and enjoy nature.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun?
I really enjoy spending time with my family, being together, and going out for walks.
What’s your favorite food?
Pasta, any kind
If you could have dinner with someone famous, who would it be?
Chris Hemsworth
What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate it?
I love celebrating birthdays, both mine and my family’s. I really enjoy doing something fun and making the most of that day.
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 28 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope.
At The Max Foundation, we believe in the power of individuals to make a difference, especially when it comes to health equity. Over the years, we’ve been privileged to work alongside some amazing people in both the public and private sectors – people who have moved mountains to help patients around the world face cancer with dignity and hope. We also believe in working closely with organizations whose mission and values align with our own.
On October 23rd we visited the out-patient department of the Philippine General Hospital to distribute a recent shipment of hats that we had received from With Love in Every Stitch. It was amazingly beautiful to see the faces of small children queuing up to choose the hats they liked. The children were fascinated with the colors and designs of the hats. They gladly tried them on and proudly showed them to their parents and the other children.
This year, each of us had to learn how to support one another amid a global pandemic. In these difficult times, our mental and physical health have been tested and finding daily comforts is critical to our health. As each of us has taken steps to avoid infecting ourselves and reducing the risk of infecting….
