Dawn Barker is a new-age renaissance woman, a difference maker and a catalyst for change. She has always cared about the well-being of those around her and her community at large. In addition to being a triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) advocate, Dawn takes her roles as a community collaborator very seriously.

Dawn, a mother of three, who was proudly born in Barbados, started her career in the Health Insurance Industry, holding administrative positions with Sun Life Assurance Company and Great West Life. Dawn later felt a pressing desire to pivot and tangibly serve those who were unable to care for themselves. She decided to pursue a Healthcare Aid Certification. This career shift came after seeing her own mother struggle during a lengthy battle with Multiple Myeloma (12+ years). In addition to losing her mother at the age of 62, she inevitably lost her father (4 years later) after a very short battle with Esophageal cancer.

Losing a loved one is never easy. It always leaves a void that can never be filled in the natural. Jamie Anderson said it like this, “Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” With both her parents enduring challenges of feeling dismissed within the Hospital and Healthcare settings, this was where the need for Dawn to upstand and advocate began. 

Dawn, being so accustomed to advocating for others, she didn’t realize that she was faced with a situation where self-advocacy may have changed the trajectory of her life. In 2017, she received her own cancer diagnosis (triple negative breast cancer). Ironically enough, she asked to begin breast screening (twice) before her diagnosis and was denied both times and told “not until you’re 50”. She believes that physicians a) don’t always believe breast cancer can occur in (average risk) women under the age of 50 b) are not fully educated on racialized individuals and the cancers that present earlier and more aggressively in BIPOC women and c) place much trust and rely heavily on the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care for direction on baseline breast screening. Barker wants everyone to know that there could be benefits in conducting a breast cancer risk assessment and that shared and informed decision making is your right!

Breast cancer is not monolithic, neither should our breast screening be one dimensional. In the fall of 2024, the Ontario Government will lower the age for self-referral (publicly funded) breast screenings from age 50 to age 40. This is a step in the right direction! However, TNBC accounts for 10-20% of all breast cancer cases and disproportionately affects WOC, at younger ages. It is important to recognize your unique needs and request that they be met.

Through raising awareness, her persistent advocacy and initiating positive dialogues to fuel change, Dawn’s ultimate objective is to ensure representation occurs Canada wide and to lead organizations, researchers, and Government Institutions toward the collection of race-based data. Envisioning closing large gaps, equitable health care for all and creating pathways for earlier detections, tailored treatment and lives saved. Women have been screened too late and dying too soon.

Mental Health Training Certifications

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) Family-to-Family Program Sponsored by Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences

Mental Health Commission of Canada Opening Minds - Mental Health First Aid Training