Most everyone has been touched by cancer. Kids are no exception.

Westlake mom Julie Guillot will join us on May 31st to share her son’s story plus what she’s learned about childhood (and adult) cancers -- including promising therapies -- over the last decade. 

Inspired by her son, Zach, and leveraging her background in engineering and high tech, Julie Guillot has spent the last 10 years working as a full-time volunteer advocate for childhood cancer.

When Zach passed away in 2014, Julie resolved to “never walk away” and began digging into the key barriers slowing progress in aggressive childhood cancers (especially leukemia).

Her passion is identifying and driving high-impact projects that may fall “outside the box” of traditional grant mechanisms and advocacy initiatives.  

Julie was featured on Robin Roberts’ Thriver Series and Good Morning America in 2019.

You can preview her story here:  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1161756440653015

In 2015, Julie co-founded a grassroots precision medicine project with multiple impacts including identification of an ovarian cancer drug repurposed to treat babies with poor prognosis leukemia.

She was also an early advocate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s $175M Dare to Dream children’s initiative and PedAL (Precision Medicine) Master Trial.

She’s served on the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiative working group, moderated a Cancer Moonshot panel at the White House, and partners with the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest organization dedicated to childhood cancer research and clinical trials. She received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M and worked for companies like Accenture and Dell.

Brooke Waupsh is the founder and CEO of Swoovy, a corporate social impact software company that provides organizations with a streamlined employee volunteer platform to boost corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee engagement initiatives. She is an award-winning marketer with experience breathing life into established brands such as Coors, Clorox, and Charles Schwab, as well as successfully introducing a new B2B2C FinTech brand to the market that is now nationwide and represents the 4th largest network of community financial institutions in the US. 

In 2023, Brooke was a contributor to Austin Woman Magazine for National Volunteer Month on the power of volunteerism. She was also recognized as an "Extraordinary Woman" by the Austin American Statesman, and Swoovy received a Communitas Excellence Award in Corporate Social Responsibility as a "Startup Company to Watch”. 

Brooke was the recipient of the Austin Young Chamber’s 2021 FAVE Award for YoungProfessional Led Business and nominated for the 2022 FAVE Award for Innovative Company for Swoovy. Brooke is also a two-time Woman in Business finalist for the Austin Business Journal and a two-time finalist for the "Austin Under 40" awards for “Start-Up and Innovation”. She has also been featured as a "Female Disruptor" by Authority Magazine, a “Rising Star” by Voyage Austin, and “Woman to Watch” by On The Dot, as well as contributed to Authority Magazine and the Built In Expert Network    

     Clarke spent seven years adventuring the entire world, so Indiana Jones had nothing on him.  He would arrive in countries with very little money.  Then, his goal was to work in the number one hotel in the countries he was most interested in, thus meeting many of the most famous people in the world.

     He took care of the Beatles in Hong Kong on their first world tour. He was also assigned to take care of Prince Don Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece on their honeymoon at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  They became the King and Queen of Spain.

He danced with headhunters, went through Viet Cong jungles, got lost climbing in the Himalayas, and worked on the Sea of Galilee cutting bananas – leaving two days before the 1967 War came down, and the land rover he was riding in in Africa came close to blowing up, with the hippos getting mighty upset.

Clarke got his BBA from Texas A&M and his master’s from North Texas State University. He finished his career as the Director of International Protocol for the State of Texas and was a Director of the South Austin Rotary Club.

His book, Romancing the Impossible: Traveling the World Without Money, tells it all.