Empowering Young Women
Facing Breast Cancer is what we do.
So Brave is Australia’s young women’s breast cancer charity, dedicated to supporting, raising awareness, and advocating for change – because young women can and do get breast cancer, and they deserve to be seen, heard, and helped.
How We Support Young Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
No young woman should have to face breast cancer alone. We offer support for women aged under 40 across Australia, by providing:
- Peer connection and mentoring with other young breast cancer survivors
- Access to age-relevant information about fertility, body image, treatment, and recovery
- Support groups, events, and community initiatives designed specifically for young women
- Help navigating diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship in a system often not built for young people
- Emotional and mental health support services and referrals
Our mission is to empower young women with the information, support, and sisterhood they need to get through breast cancer—and thrive beyond it.
If you’re a young woman with breast cancer, we’re here for you.
THE POWER OF BEING SO BRAVE
Sharing your story takes courage and every young woman’s breast cancer journey is very different and very personal. Our brave So Brave Model Ambassadors and many young women in our community are empowered to share their stories to help YOU through your journey.
You may have just been diagnosed, or someone close to you has, and we know how lonely that space feels. We want to change this conversation, and it starts by sharing our stories.
THE POWER OF BEING SO BRAVE
Sharing your story takes courage and every young woman’s breast cancer journey is very different and very personal. Our brave So Brave Model Ambassadors and many young women in our community are empowered to share their stories to help YOU through your journey.
You may have just been diagnosed, or someone close to you has, and we know how lonely that space feels. We want to change this conversation, and it starts by sharing our stories.
#FEELITONTHEFIFTH
Know the risks and get #breastaware with our free Breast Check Guide, because early detection saves lives.
We’ve put together an easy to follow guide with the latest in research and resources, so you can become more #breastaware.
TAKE
charge
MAKE
change
GIVE
generously
Every donation ensures support, connection, empowerment, advocacy.
It supports investment into research for young women with breast cancer.
It invests in research to change the conversation for
young women and breast cancer.
Does this come as a complete surprise to you?
You’re not alone.
Most of us tend to assume breast cancer is something women over the age of 50 need to know about. Advertising seems to be solely focused on encouraging women between the ages of 50 and 70 to attend regular breast cancer screening.
At So Brave, we know through experience, it’s simply not enough.
Because, although there are currently no breast screening programs for women under 40, unless they have a reported family history.
young women get breast cancer too
So Brave is a charity pioneering empowered, educated futures for young Australian women.
We invest funds raised through our generous donors into advancing best practice scientific and medical research, raising community awareness, and providing support and connection for the brave young women who have been through the shock of diagnosis.
Our vision is to empower 1 million
young women to be #breastaware.
So Brave makes it easy for young women to access quality resources and to be confident to make informed decisions when it comes to preventative measures.
So Brave also provides empowerment, community and connection for young women diagnosed with breast cancer throughout their diagnosis and beyond, which gives them the courage to share their stories.
We do things differently. Our So Brave Ambassador program has become a powerful means for our young women to do this through artistic expression, as has our online community, So Brave CONNECT.
Were you diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40?
WHY the focus on young women?
SO BRAVE FOUNDER –
Rachelle Panitz
So Brave unfolded through one young woman’s experiences during a life-changing event. Our Founder, Rachelle Panitz, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just 32.
From that moment, breast cancer turned her family and professional life upside down.
Rachelle encountered an overwhelming lack of community and informational resources and, under physical and mental hardship, had to contend with the additional hardships that being a young woman with breast cancer presents.
This sparked the determination and drive to pave an easier path for other young women in the future.
OUR YOUNG WOMEN
Need You!
We’re a national charity that is continually growing and expanding on our mission to support survivors, raise funds for research and educate the wider community to be #breastaware.
We are always looking for fresh faces to join our community and if you want to get involved there are many ways to support us through in-person and online events, challenges and celebrating your special events we know are effective, easy to run, and fun to be a part of.
Get in touch to become part of our community today