Eileen Z. Fuentes BBA, MA

Eileen Fuentes who has been in healthcare administration for nearly 20 years was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2008. She was just 34 years old. While she came across skilled and compassionate healthcare workers, she was awakened to how deficient the medical establishment’s treatment model is but realized that she could be an active participant in her own health by incorporating the foods, customs, and mindsets of her ancestors.

Eileen was awarded a scholarship by The Palette Fund, which allowed her to obtain her certification as an Integrative Cancer Care Educator at the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, where she now serves as faculty. She took part in The Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Program via a scholarship from the Livestrong Foundation and earned an advanced certification from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She also completed both the Summer Intensive Cooking Course and later the Food Therapy program at esteemed Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health. She served as a Just Food CSA chef, where she taught community members how to prepare local, seasonal meals and is also certified as an African-heritage plant-based cooking instructor.