The night before Maureen passed away, she asked her sister Eileen a question no one should ever have to ask: “Am I dying?” Even then, Maureen couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her babies. She made Eileen promise not to forget her, and to take care of her children.
That moment changed everything.
For Eileen, grief reshaped her life. Maureen had been her best friend, the person she called three times a day. Instead of letting grief consume her, Eileen turned it into purpose.
Eileen started Team Maureen in her sister’s memory, first as a cycling fundraiser, then as a full-scale nonprofit dedicated to cervical cancer prevention. As a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Eileen saw firsthand the impact of education and prevention.
With her roots in both medicine and community, she started partnering with colleagues, building bridges across hospitals and health departments. Team Maureen became a nonprofit with a clear mission: to stop other families from enduring what hers had.
One moment stands out: a high school outreach event in Boston, where Eileen spoke about HPV and the power of vaccination. After her talk, an 18-year-old student walked up to the vaccination bus and said, “This is the first decision I’ve made for my own health.”
Moments like that keep her going. So does the rising vaccination rate. So does the memory of Maureen’s courage.
Where does her strength come from? Maureen’s fight—and her mother Rachael, the oldest of nine, who worked multiple jobs and cared deeply for everyone around her.
When asked what she hopes to be remembered for, Eileen’s answer is simple: speaking up for those without a voice, showing up with love, and leaving the world better than she found it.
Today, Team Maureen is nationally recognized, even earning an invitation to the White House. But for Eileen, it all comes back to one thing.“My sister lives in everything we do,” she says. “It started in pain. But it’s led to so much purpose.”
6 Questions With OY6:
1. What moment changed everything for you?
The night before my sister’s passing- she asked me to not forget her and take care of her kids. She also asked if she was dying as she still could not accept that she was leaving her babies even at the end. From that moment on- I was not going to have anyone else lose a sister, mother, daughter, aunt, or friend or experience the pain of watching someone you love suffer and ultimately succumb to a preventable disease.
2. When you started Team Maureen, what was driving you day to day? Was it grief, purpose, or something else entirely?
The grief of losing my best friend and sister was the most painful and life changing event in my life as I spoke to her about 3 times a day and she was always the first person I would call about joy or sadness or just for advice. The grief was a roller coaster ride the first few years for sure and that is why my family started riding the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, a fundraiser in which you ride one or two days to raise funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Our team named, Team Maureen, rode for over 10 years and monies were directed to the doctors that took care of her and focused on relapsed cervical cancer like she had. Those hours of training with family and friends was very helpful to process the grief and at the same time not to forget her. We raised a good amount of money, but then I realized that I could do even more as a nurse practitioner at DFCI as I could educate about cervical cancer prevention while keeping my sister’s spirit alive. As I had connections at DFCI and across Boston- I pulled together all the people working in the field and starting conversations. Then the Massachusetts Department of Public Health received a grant to pull together stakeholders and Team Maureen then took off from there. We are now working along many leaders in the cervical cancer prevention world and last January, Team Maureen, was invited to White House for the Cancer Moonshot Forum on Advancing Cervical Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Survival.
3. Was there a specific moment when you realized your actions had made a difference?
When I was doing outreach at a charter school in Boston and I did a presentation about HPV, HPV-related cancers as well as vaccination and DFCI had a bus available to give the vaccine that day. One 18 year old senior was not aware of this information and came to the bus and was very happy and proud to say “ this is the first decision I made for my own health .” As well as another senior came back after senior week to complete his series after taking a train then bus to get the vaccine. He said thanks for caring and potentially saving his life.
Also- watching our vaccine rate increase in Massachusetts over the year and decrease in cervical cancer rates.
4. Where does your strength come from?
It comes from times when you question everything about life, God, and not having answers, but you still push ahead through grief and pain and taking strength from the way Maureen fought courageously the last 6 months of her life and how she lived on this earth with gratitude and love for her family.
5. If you could raise a glass to anyone—Maureen, a patient, a student—who would it be today, and why?
My mother, Rachael. She was the oldest of 9 and they lived in the projects in Cambridge. She worked many jobs to help support her siblings and was unable to attend college.
She is such a hard worker as is my father working many jobs to help put myself and my 3 siblings through college- while supporting all of our sports. We all play sports in college and that love continues to our kids. She is the most loving person I know- always cooking and baking, always there to lend a hand at home or at the church. She has watched my kids since they were born- 1 day a week until they moved down near us a few years ago. She is kind, generous, and the most genuine person you would meet. She is known as “Nana” at the local high school and around town as she goes to all my daughter’s sports and school events no matter where they are. I feel watching her behavior and how she was to others- I developed compassion and the need to give back as well as my strong work ethic from my father.
6. Is there anything else you would love to share with us about your story?
My sister lives in all the work I have done and it started with a mission coming from pain/ great suffering. Along the way I have met many wonderful providers, patients, survivors, organizations and people that truly care about cervical cancer and making a difference in women that they do not even know. I am grateful for them, especially my executive director, Kelly Welch, that has made Team Maureen a successful and respected organization. I know my sister would be so happy on how this little non-profit has spread its wings over the past years across the United States.
