Board of Directors

President, Founder, Founding Director

Birmingham, Alabama

Andrea Wilson Woods is a nonfiction writer, patient advocate and career coach. Formerly an adjunct faculty member at Kaplan University, she earned her master’s degree in writing from the University of Southern California (USC). Before focusing on her graduate studies, Andrea worked as a development writer and editor for USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. As a family service specialist at the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, she facilitated women’s groups in the Legacy for Children research study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and managed by the Research Triangle Institute. During the seven years she raised her sister, Andrea worked as a primary and secondary school teacher. Andrea received her certification in fundraising with a focus on institutional development from UCLA Extension. She graduated cum laude from USC with a B.A. in humanities. After graduation, Andrea gained custody of her then eight-year-old sister Adrienne. Raising Adrienne has been Andrea’s greatest joy in life; losing Adrienne to liver cancer has been her greatest loss. Andrea started Blue Faery because she doesn’t want another person to lose a loved one to HCC, and she wants the world to know Adrienne’s spirit, strength and courage.

Download Andrea’s CV.

Treasurer, Secretary, Founding Director

Burbank, California

Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, Monique received her B.A. in Communication Arts from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. She currently lives in Southern California and has been managing animation budgets and schedules for over 15 years. Monique has worked at various studios including Disney, Sony and Nickelodeon, and is now the Director of Production, TV at DreamWorks Animation Television. Though she never knew Adrienne, Monique was inspired to volunteer because of Andrea’s love of her sister and dedication to Blue Faery.

Director, Strategic Advisor: Healthcare Improvement and Policy

Denver, Colorado

Matthew is a Principal Analyst focused on healthcare improvement. As a certified knowledge management and process improvement practitioner with extensive international experience, Matthew brings a range of methodologies to bear on improving healthcare policy implementation, technology deployment and workflow optimization. He has served in senior KM and customer service roles in the US and Australia and holds a master’s degree in knowledge management from the University of Canberra. Matthew is the founder of the Monitoring & Evaluation, Quality Assurance, and Process Improvement (MEQAPI) organization, and is a KM and quality improvement author. Matthew’s pro bono roles have included support for the Queensland Emergency Medicine Research Foundation and the St. Andrew’s Medical Research Institute. Matthew is active on social media related to healthcare improvement and hosts the weekly #MEQAPI chat.

Director, Legacy Volunteer

Simi Valley, California

Marina was born in the Ukraine but raised in Southern California. She graduated from California State University Northridge with her B.S. in applied mathematics. Her career goals include obtaining her master’s degree in statistics. Previously Marina worked as a Service Manager at Wells Fargo. Marina met Adrienne in the sixth grade, and they remained friends long after Marina moved to a different school district. Marina volunteers for Blue Faery because she wants to spread awareness of hepatitis and liver cancer, and she doesn’t want others to lose a dear friend to a relatively unknown, but extremely common cancer.

Strategic Advisor: Medical Industry Relations

Baltimore, Maryland

Rolf Taylor is a patient engagement and partnership development professional with many years of experience working with nonprofit and medical industry organizations. Rolf is passionate about building stakeholder partnerships that enable impactful health initiatives with the goal of improving outcomes for patients. Working cross-functionally with multiple stakeholders, Rolf has led numerous initiatives connecting patient organizations with patients, caregivers, researchers, advocates, policy leaders, physicians/medical thought-leaders, scientists and the medical industry. He has held senior positions at the American Liver Foundation and COPD Foundation, and successfully secured and managed a variety of multi-million dollar initiatives. He started his career with GSK as a research associate, followed by sales and marketing positions with Roche and several years in strategic communications agency roles.