Wendy Farrelli was born and raised in Northern California. She graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in Ergonomics and Kinesiology and received her graduate degree in Exercise Physiology form Colorado State University. She put herself through school by working in the food and beverage industry. Although she came to Scottsdale for a job opportunity as Athletic Director for a health club, it was soon after that she and husband Tom started Farrelli's Catering, which they still run 16 years later. In the summer of 2001, they achieved a life long dream of opening a full service restaurant that shows movies on a big screen, Farrelli's Cinema Supper Club. They continue to operate both companies.

Wendy is very active in the community and believes that it is important to donate her time to worthwhile causes. From 1990 to 1993, she served on the board for the Women Entrepreneurs Conference as the Speaker Chairperson. As an event coordinator, she has organized many fundraisers and charitable events and handled all of the food and beverage service as well. Though Wendy has not been directly affected by breast cancer, she has had several good friends go through the ordeal and strongly feels that AIBH is an unbelievable resource that more people need to know about. She joined the board in 2004 to help with PR, fundraising and to get the word out about the Institute. Wendy and her 3 wonderful boys reside in Scottsdale and she enjoys cooking, dancing and spending time with friends.

Wendy joined the board in 2004 and was the Marketing Chair from 2005 to 2008. Wendy is now serving as AIBH Board President.

Deanna Giffis was born in Phoenix and raised in Pinetop, Arizona. She graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Business, majoring in Finance. She began working at E.F. Hutton while in college and spent several years as a Financial Consultant in both retail and institutional brokerage.

Deanna began her community service at the age of twelve with her involvement in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. At age nineteen, Deanna delayed college one year to serve as Grand Worthy Advisor for the State of Arizona and spent that year in service to the organization, supporting many local charities and scholarship funds.

In addition to fund raising for a number of causes, Deanna has spent time volunteering at Maricopa County Hospital in the neo-natal and extended care nurseries. "I wanted something really hands on and volunteering at County definitely gave me that."

Deanna now gives the majority of her time to her husband of 15 years, Craig, and their 10 year-old-daughter, Sarah. She volunteers daily at her daughter's school and was given the Kavod Award from the Ina Levine Jewish Community center for her hours of service there.

At age 43, a suspect mammogram led to the diagnosis of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma for Deanna. She immediately contacted the Arizona Institute for Breast Health for their help. "They were incredible. They answered all my questions and advised and supported me through every phase of my treatment. Now by serving on the board of AIBH, I can help insure this kind of support will be available to other women fighting breast cancer."

Deanna joined the board in January of 2008 and is currently serving as AIBH Vice President.

Jennifer Owen moved to Arizona for the second time in the spring of 2003 to take a job in the Natural Gas industry with Arizona Public Service. Having lived here before and after graduating from the University of Oregon, she knew this is where she wanted to call home.

Jennifer has been actively involved in helping others throughout her life. During college, she worked for a non-profit agency facilitating an extensive volunteer program that sent college students in to schools and the community. During her first job in the Natural Gas industry, Jennifer worked with Corporate Communications and focused her efforts on corporate donations to support local charities. With her career now focused on Marketing, she remains committed to volunteer efforts.

Through family and friends, Jennifer has been affected by breast cancer and feels that it is important to be actively involved in something that affects so many millions of women. She lives in Scottsdale with her amazing son and husband and enjoys all of the outdoor activities that Arizona has to offer.

Jennifer joined AIBH in April of 2007 so she could do her part for the cause. She is currently serving as AIBH Board Treasurer.

Ellen is "almost" a native Arizonan as her family moved to the state from the mid west when she was in high school. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Business degree and a major in Marketing. After college, she worked at America West Airlines for two years, starting just 2 months after the airline's inception. As a "cross trained" customer service representative, she worked at various jobs from flight attendant to baggage handler as well as reservations agent. Wanting to pursue a more focused career, she went to work in sales for the pharmaceutical division of Colgate-Palmolive Co. She is still at the same company 22 years later working as a sales rep as well as a corporate sales trainer.

Ellen family has been touched by breast cancer quite extensively and she has recently gone through AIBH as a patient. Fortunately, her news was positive but she was so incredibly impressed with the organization, particularly the volunteers, that she was thrilled when asked to join the board in the summer of 2008. With so many women being diagnosed with breast cancer on a regular basis, she feels the AIBH is a huge asset to the community and is enthusiastic about spreading the word and raising funds for such a worthy cause. Ellen is currently serving as AIBH Board Secretary.

Over the years, she has donated her time to the Special Olympics as well as the Ronald Mc Donald House.

Ellen lives with her two teenage sons and she enjoys traveling, playing tennis and reading.

Cynthia was born in Phoenix, AZ at Luke AFB and relocated shortly after to Portsmouth, OH were she was raised. She attended Ohio University with her major being Fine Arts, more specifically, music. She is enjoying her life with her husband, James Doerr of 31 years. Together they have raised two wonderful children, Meggan and Jason. 2010 also marks the 20th anniversary of their Architectural firm, Doerr Design Associates, LLC, specializing in Tenant Improvement.

Cynthia has made a point to feed the homeless standing on corners and has helped a hopeless Vietnam Vet achieve his dream of owning a mobile hot dog stand. Survivor of an abusive first husband, she has always provided help where she can for battered woman and children.

AIBH is the first organized Non-Profit in which Cynthia has become involved. Her mother and sister-in-law were both diagnosed with breast cancer ata very young age. Her mother was a 25 year survivor, but, lost her battle to cancer at the age of 62. Her sister-in-law is a 5 year survivor and going strong. She honors both of their battles with breast cancer by joining the ranks of those that want to see an end to this horrible disease and giving those diagnosed the opportunity for a free 2nd opinion through AIBH.

Cynthia first became part of AIBH as a Pink Cap in 2009 and later that year became a proud member of the AIBH Board.

Cynthia enjoys reading, movies, swimming, bowling, creating mosaics and spending time with her family and their 2 miniature schnauzers.

Claudia was diagnosed with breast cancer in December of 2009. With the help of friends she met though her breast cancer experience, she made a decision to become involved with AIBH and the wonderful services the organization provides. She looks forward to helping women recently diagnosed with breast cancer by working to promote the organization within the community.

Claudia moved from Michigan to Arizona after college. She studied Fine Arts and Earth Science and to this day wonders how she ended up in the home furnishings industry instead of becoming a geologist! She began importing from Mexico in the late 80's, selling her imports to retail stores and hotels across the country. During that time she was also licensed by Warner Bros., helping them design and develop merchandise for the retail stores they were in the process of opening. In 1996, an evolution occurred and Fiesta Furnishings was born, followed by Brix Home in 2005.

Claudia has been very active in the home furnishings industry and is the current 2010 President of The Western Home Furnishings Association, which serves over 2200 furniture stores in the western states. She has been involved in projects with Habitat for Humanity, Serenity Hospice, Sojourner's Center and Bridging Arizona Furniture Bank. A few years ago her stores participated in the Extreme Home Makeover Edition on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona.

Claudia enjoys traveling....the more exotic the better! She also enjoys cooking, reading, business in general, hiking and spending time with friends and family (along with good food and wine!).

Shirley Mattson, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, moved to Scottsdale from Burnsville, MN. Shirley graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Interior Design. Loving the arts, she managed a fine arts gallery and then began her own art consulting business for many years. Moving into the marketing arena for a telecommunications company, she traveled throughout the US managing trade shows and events. A career change brought Shirley to Scottsdale where she is now a Realtor working with residential and commercial clients.

Once settled here in Scottsdale, she started meeting new friends, including the Gypsy Riders, a philanthropic women's motorcycle riding group. Through the fundraising and donations by Gypsy's to AIBH Shirley found out first hand how caring and giving the people at AIBH are.

Several people in Shirley's life were touch by breast cancer. Her aunt passed away many years ago in West Virginia, and recently, one of the Gypsy's was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away in July, 2008. With the commitment to help others and a strong sense of community outreach, Shirley sees the strength and passion within AIBH to help many others.

Shirley joined the AIBH board in January, 2009. She has two grown daughters, one here in Scottsdale and the other is still back in Minneapolis, who she hopes will someday move here as well.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Julie Robinson considers the Midwest a good place to be "from." Graduating from Indiana University, Bloomington with a degree in Telecommunications and Marketing, an early career in fashion retailing lead her from Indianapolis, to Minneapolis, and eventually to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she put her flair for marketing and special events to good use as an Account Executive promoting the Clinique brand, for Estee Lauder Inc.

An opportunity to own their own business brought Julie's family to Arizona in 1991. First as VP of Publicity and Events and now President of Jani-King Southwest, the #1 Commercial Cleaning Franchise Company, she works with individuals and families pursuing the "American Dream" of owning their own business, and her Franchise Owners keep over 1200 business throughout Arizona clean and healthy environments every day. An active community volunteer, Julie has donated her marketing and event planning skills, creativity, and hands-on enthusiasm to several Valley non-profits over the past 15 years, including Boys and Girls Club, HomeBase Youth Services, Banner of Hope, and New School for the Arts and Academics.

While not a breast cancer survivor herself, Julie remains deeply affected by the experience of watching her best friend go through treatment, and become an effective and knowledgeable advocate for her own care, at a time where there was no organization to turn to for help. Committed to spreading the word about AIBH, Julie hopes to help other women discover much needed information and options at such a critical time in their lives.

Julie joined the board in 2005, served as President of AIBH from January 2007 to January 2009 and continues to serve on the board as a very active board member. She lives in Scottsdale, with her three children, and enjoys music, dancing, reading and spending time with close friends.

Linda has worked in the medical field over 30 years She started as a radiologic technologist ( RT ) and later specialized in mammography and sonography. She was a Breast Health Educator for the American Cancer Society, lecturing on breast cancer awareness, the importance of mammography, and how to perform breast self exams. She chaired the Fairfax Coalition for Every Woman's life and was chair of Education/Detection for the Fairfax Virginia board of the American Cancer Society.

This past March she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer and went through the AIBH program. Linda has been married for 36 years to her husband Jim. She enjoys good food and wine, good friends and making people smile.