The Only Young Person Here

Advocacy at Work · Jul 16, 2026 · 30m

Twenty-four years ago, Vanessa Ghigliotty was 28 years old and had just graduated college.

She was a young mom. She was planning to study for her LSATs. She was going to be a lawyer. She had dreams, plans, a future mapped out in her mind.

Then she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.

“Cancer throws you this big wrench into your plans,” she says, “and everything kind of gets disarrayed and discombobulated.”

But here’s what makes Vanessa’s story extraordinary: it didn’t stay disarrayed. She walked into her first cancer support group to find a room full of wealthy people in their 60s and…