The Women Who Carry Us: Honoring the Strength Behind Every Child's Fight

This Women's History Month, the Lilabean Foundation honors the extraordinary women who surround children fighting brain cancer — from researchers driving collaboration to friends who simply refuse to let go.

Every March, the world pauses to honor the women who have shaped history — the pioneers, the trailblazers, the voices that refused to be silenced. But some of the most extraordinary women doing the most extraordinary work don't make headlines. They make meals. They make calls. They make sure that a mother caring for her sick child has someone to talk to.

Behind every child fighting for their life is a remarkable network of women — researchers who build bridges between science and hope, and friends who simply refuse to let go. Their work looks different. Their titles are different. But the thread connecting them is the same: an unwillingness to accept the status quo, and an insistence on showing up.

This Women's History Month, the Lilabean Foundation is honored to highlight two of those women. Gerri Trooskin, Director of Partnerships at the Children's Brain Tumor Network, who works every day to ensure that no child's experience is lost and that the science of healing moves faster because people choose to collaborate rather than compete. And Alexandra Byrnes, LBF Board Member and close friend of Stewi Corno, mother to LBF Hero Cameron Corno, who knows firsthand what it means to show up when the stakes could not be higher.

Together, their stories paint a portrait of what it looks like when women lead with purpose.

Beyond the Bedside: Driving Research Forward

The fight against pediatric brain cancer extends past the hospital room. It continues in conference rooms and on research platforms, in emails and phone calls that connect scientists to patients, and in the steady, determined work of people like Gerri Trooskin.

As Director of Partnerships at the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), Gerri sits at the intersection of science, philanthropy, and human experience, working each day to ensure that discovery moves forward and that no family’s journey is forgotten.

Can you share your role at CBTN and how it supports children with brain tumors?

“In my role, I focus on building philanthropic partnerships and connecting patient-founded organizations with the researchers and clinicians who are driving the work forward,” Gerri explains. “A big part of that work is partnering closely with patient parents who have started foundations, often in response to their child’s diagnosis or loss. CBTN exists to ensure that no child’s experience is lost. Every sample, every data point, and every story can contribute to discovery. My role is to help connect the people, funding, and priorities that make that possible, so we are learning collectively rather than in silos.”

Translating the complexity of science into something families can feel and understand is, for Gerri, as important as the research itself. “The work is complex, but the impact is deeply personal. Families want to understand how progress is being made and how their support is making a difference, and it is important that we can clearly connect what is happening in the lab to real outcomes for children.”

Collaboration is at the heart of your work — do you think there are qualities often associated with women that strengthen that approach?

Gerri answers this question with care. “I think some of the qualities often associated with women — like empathy, active listening, and a strong sense of purpose — can show up in really meaningful ways in this work. At the same time, I have seen those qualities in many people across this field, and they are essential to collaboration more broadly.”

What she notices most is not gender itself, but a particular kind of leadership. “I work closely with patient parents who have stepped into this space because of their child’s diagnosis. More often than not, these foundations are led by moms. They have experienced firsthand how limited the options can be, and they are not willing to accept that as the status quo. What stands out is how they lead. There is a real combination of compassion and determination. They bring people together, ask thoughtful questions, and keep the focus on what matters most. That perspective strengthens collaboration and helps move things forward meaningfully.”

Can you share a moment where collaboration — perhaps led or shaped by women — made a meaningful difference?

“There is not just one moment,” Gerri says. “It is something I see consistently.”

“Some of the most powerful examples come from patient parents, often mothers, who have turned their experience into action. I have seen them walk into rooms full of scientists and clinicians and shift the conversation. They ask hard questions, push for clarity, and make sure the work stays connected to patients. They bring a level of focus and urgency that can change how decisions are made. In many cases, they have helped align groups that might not have otherwise worked together and pushed efforts forward in a more coordinated way. Some of the most impressive people I have met in this role are parents on a mission.”

What gives you hope when you think about the growing number of women contributing to research and innovation in this space?

“What stands out to me right now is the momentum,” she shares. “I’m seeing more women involved across every part of this work and increasingly helping shape how it moves forward. There’s a thoughtfulness and sense of responsibility that comes through in how many women approach this space, along with a clear focus on impact. It feels like meaningful progress — and that’s what gives me hope.”

The Power of Community

There is a kind of support that no clinical training can teach, and no research grant can fund. It lives in the text message sent at midnight. In the friend who drives two hours just to sit on the couch and say nothing. In the woman who doesn’t wait to be asked, she just shows up.

Alexandra Byrnes knows this kind of support intimately. As a close friend of Stewi Corno — mother to LBF Hero Cameron Corno, who fought an extraordinary five-year battle with ependymoma before passing away in June 2025 — Alexandra has witnessed firsthand what friendship looks like in the face of unimaginable hardship.

What role do friendships between women play when a family is navigating a child’s diagnosis?

“Friendships and support are the biggest gifts that you can give someone navigating this journey,” Alexandra says. “Many people in life have never experienced supporting a friend in this situation — until you do — and often, everyone is learning together on how to best support and be there for the family.”

She speaks to the particular isolation that marks this experience. “Going through a cancer journey with your child is one of the most isolating experiences. There must be many times when a parent could be physically surrounded by many people, yet at the same time, feel completely alone.”

Her message to anyone on the periphery of a family in crisis is unequivocal: “Do not forget your friends. Do not forget them at the onset of the diagnosis or throughout the journey and for the rest of their lives — no matter the outcome. As a friend, we will not understand everything, and we must be comfortable with uncertainty and discomfort. We will not understand all of the medical terms, why this is happening, or how to best support our friend. But the key is to keep showing up. Do not show up the same way every time. Show up in different ways and no matter what, be there to listen.”

In your experience, how do women support one another through both the practical and emotional realities of this journey?

“Women are great at operations and logistics,” Alexandra says. “I have had the great gift of watching how my friend’s neighborhood community mastered the logistics game — from Meal Trains, picking up medicine at specialty pharmacies, planning cheer-up parties, customized shirts, and so on and so forth.”

The emotional dimension, she says, is where things get more nuanced. “There is nothing quite like a mother’s love. Every single mother can so easily put herself in the other mother’s shoes and feel her heart drop when she thinks about a child battling a cancer journey. Sometimes this emotional reality can be crippling — where some do not know what to do or how to process it on their own, let alone show up for their friend. This is when I think it’s important for women to band together. Have a network of women who are all connected to the family, work together to process your own emotions, and lean on each other so that you have the strength to show up as your best and strongest self.”

The women who get this right, she says, don’t assume — they ask. “Sometimes they just need a hug — hold them, let them cry in your arms. Sometimes they want to talk and think about nothing related to the journey and pretend to feel normal for a moment. Sometimes all they want to do is talk about their child — whether they are here or not. Don’t assume they don’t want to attend an event. Let them have the option and make the decision themselves. Assisting a mom through this journey requires all of us to continue to work on our own Emotional Intelligence.”

She closes with a charge that is both tender and urgent: “Get on the flight, get in your car, walk down the street — don’t stop showing up for your friend. If their child does not survive their battle with cancer, the importance of this is even greater. Your friend’s entire universe has shifted. All they know now is a life where they are constantly fighting for their child. Without that fight, we must fight for our friend — to bring that smile back to their face, to help them have a space to remember their child, and to protect them from the deep darkness of loss. Show up.”

A Village, Not a Footnote

Gerri and Alexandra operate in very different worlds — one defined by data partnerships and research consortiums, the other by the quiet, fierce loyalty of friendship. And yet, through both of their stories, the same thread runs: the willingness to be present, to carry something for someone else, and to keep showing up even when the path is painful.

This Women’s History Month, the Lilabean Foundation celebrates these women — and the thousands like them who are doing this work every day without recognition. They are researchers and nurses, board members and best friends, advocates and arms to cry in. They are the reason families feel less alone. They are the reason science keeps moving forward. They are the reason hope is still possible.

If their stories have moved you, consider joining the fight. Donate, share, or get involved — and the next time someone you know is walking this road, remember what Alexandra said, “sometimes, all you have to do is show up.”