Natalie A-K

Natalie A-K., BSc, CPA-CMA, MBA.

Ever since she was diagnosed with de novo, triple positive breast cancer in 2019, Natalie has been actively sharing her cancer story and experience to advocate for better screening and treatments through research for current and future cancer patients. She is a Patient Advocate in various cancer-related organisation: Dense Breasts Canada, the Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Guidelines, and the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging.

 She has also been a Terry Fox Ambassador, where she speaks at schools to talk about Terry’s story and what it is like to live with cancer. She and her young children have raised over $35,000 since they started running in the Terry Fox School Runs when they started Kindergarten. 

In her life before cancer, Natalie completed a BSc, the intent of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. In her last year, she had the opportunity to compete for Team Canada. This altered the course of her career. After retiring as a national team snowboard racer, she pursued graduate-level studies in business.

Over her two-decade long business career, she developed strategies for organizations with multi-billion-dollar revenue targets, managed multi-million programs, and broke down cross-organizational silos to develop and implement customer-centric strategies to achieve organizational goals.

While working full-time, she was a sessional Bachelor of Business (BBA) instructor at three universities, earned her PMP and CPA-CMA designations, in addition to completing other post-graduate programs. She was half-way through a MSc from HEC Paris, when she was diagnosed with cancer. Her ongoing palliative treatments forced Natalie to quit her career and studies.

In May 2024, Natalie joined the MOHCCN’s Patient Working Group “Focus Group C”, which is tasked with building a patient/public precision oncology education program. She is a part of the MOHCCN Council, where she brings her strategic experience and patient lens to the table.