Jamil Rivers

Chief Financial Officer/Chief Executive Officer/Entrepreneur/Model/Advocate

LocationPhiladelphia, PA

Preferred pronounshe/her

Email address

Telephone number2676253711

Facebook pagejamil.kalirivers

Twitter account@jamilkali

Instagram account@truejamilkali

Headshot of Jamil Rivers

Biographical information

Jamil Rivers was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer de novo at age 39. Determined to fight and be here for her children, husband and family, she researched vigorously to learn how to best prepare for her battle to survive. With chemotherapy in conjunction with improving her nutrition with food and supplements and incorporating integrative therapies, she is doing well and now on endocrine therapy. She continues to work full-time as a nonprofit chief financial officer and live an active life. She believes that the research she did to prepare herself for her cancer fight has been critical in her recovery and overall wellness. She became an advocate to use her voice and experiences to help advance legislative policy, medical research and customize support to better meet the needs of individuals impacted by breast cancer, particularly metastatic and African-American patients. Jamil is a Young Advocate Alum and Board Member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer. She is the Board President of METAvivor. She is a policy, science and health equity advocate and metastatic advisory committee member with Susan G. Komen. She is a member and patient advisor of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. She is a proposal reviewer for the Breast Cancer Research Program with the Department of Defense and a Project LEAD graduate. She also is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Chrysalis Initiative which provides mentoring and resource navigation to women with breast cancer and engages in outreach and education for African-American women to assess their breast cancer risk. Through Jamil’s work, she has participated in countless community health events, facilitated the design and funding of two metastatic clinical trials, met with leadership within the PA governor’s office and congressional leaders in D.C., testified to the FDA, and connected numerous women to resources for screenings, treatment and support. Jamil has been featured in People Magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Tribune, national campaigns for Anthropologie, Novartis, Pfizer and Cancer and Careers and on CBS News and Good Morning America. Jamil and her husband, Rick have three children and reside in Drexel Hill, PA.