Believe in Progress: an American Association for Cancer Resear…

In this episode, we hear the remarkable story of how personal loss and friendship became the foundation for a 25-year mission to ensure no young adult faces cancer alone. When Brock Yetso was 23, his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. She passed away in just weeks. At the same time, his best friend, Doug Ulman, was fighting cancer for the third time as a college student at Brown University.

Rather than walk away from the pain, Brock chose to fight alongside Doug and his family. What started as a single fundraiser and a nonprofit with a single employee and a $100,000 budget has grown into a $3 million operation with a staff of 25 reaching patients in more than 250 communities nationwide. The Ulman Foundation has raised more than $25 million over 22 years to support patients aged 15 to 39 facing cancer.

Brock describes the foundation's two signature programs: patient navigation, where trained navigators are embedded in cancer centers across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area to meet patients and families at the bedside, and Ulman House, a free housing facility in Baltimore located steps from the city's world-renowned hospitals, which has housed more than 583 patients and families from 29 states, saving more than $2.4 million in lodging and travel costs. He also discusses the foundation's work on fertility preservation protocols that have helped young cancer survivors start families after treatment.

The episode touches on the 20th anniversary of the Closing the Gap report (a landmark collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and the Livestrong Foundation), why colorectal cancer screening matters, what it means to run a nonprofit like a team sport, and why Brock believes the crisis he first saw at 23 is only accelerating.

Featured Guest: Brock Yetso, President and CEO, Ulman Foundation

Brock is a University of Virginia graduate and former Division I soccer player who has led the Ulman Foundation for 25 years. He also coaches women's soccer at Towson University and runs youth soccer programs in Maryland.

Key Topics:

• Brock losing his mother to stage 4 colorectal cancer in weeks

• Doug Ulman's three cancer diagnoses and Ulman Foundation’s founding mission

• Growing from a $100,000 budget to a $3 million, 25-person operation

• The cancer gap: for patients aged 15 to 39

• Patient navigation across seven to eight cancer centers in the DC/MD/VA area

• Fertility preservation protocols for young cancer patients

• Ulman House: free housing for young adults near life-saving treatment

• The $10 million Beyond Cancer capital campaign

• 20th anniversary of the Closing the Gap report

• Running a nonprofit like a team sport

• What "believe in progress" means to Brock