Heidi Onda

Heidi Nafman-Onda is a lung cancer survivor and was diagnosed with stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer in October 2018.  She was asymptomatic and her lung cancer was found incidentally while undergoing investigation of an ovarian cyst for ovarian cancer. She never had a cough. She is a lifelong health enthusiast.

Heidi is a certified fitness trainer and holds a BA in psychology from UCLA and a Master of Science degree in health education from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA. She worked with the HIV/AIDS community from 1991-1994 in Los Angeles, CA, where she offered prevention education, awareness efforts, and emotional support to those living with the disease and to their families and friends.

In addition to her advocacy work for The White Ribbon Project, Heidi serves as a volunteer phone buddy offering support to patients who have been newly diagnosed with lung cancer under the auspices of the Go2 and LUNGevity Foundations. Heidi currently devotes 40 hours per week to lung cancer advocacy, with about 30% of that time constructing and shipping wooden white ribbons to other lung cancer survivors and advocates, physicians, and cancer centers.

In her role as a founding White Ribbon Project advocate, Heidi seeks to encourage other lung cancer survivors and advocates to mobilize their efforts to increase awareness about lung cancer, change the public perception of the disease, and work to help improve prevention, early detection, and treatment of lung cancer.