About

Deanna Wicklund

I am a leukemia and stem-cell transplant survivor who turned lemons into the proverbial lemonade — not alone, but shoulder-to-shoulder with my husband, four children, friends, fellow survivors, and an entire community that refused to let me walk alone. Blood cancer is never a solo event; it impacts whole families, and it is painfully isolating. That reality is the root of my work.

In 2015, we — not I — founded Wicklund Warriors, a volunteer-run nonprofit serving blood cancer patients and families across New York’s Capital Region, where every dollar we raise stays local. We go beyond “a check in the mail.” Yes, we provide urgent financial relief, but we also build connections, reduce isolation, and created the Bad Blood Club so people can support one another at their most vulnerable. Our motto is more than a tagline — No One Fights Alone is how we operate, sustain, and show up.

Professionally, I bring 20+ years of experience in communications and brand strategy across the pharmaceutical, higher-ed, and nonprofit sectors. I use that skillset to translate lived experience into movement — elevating stories, mobilizing communities, and directing resources where institutions fall short.

Authenticity. Community. Action with a pulse — built by people who lived it, and sustained by a community that stood in it together.

www.WicklundWarriors.com