Board of Directors
Our Board members are all women who chose flat closure after mastectomy or explant, and are committed to advancing NPOAS’ mission and promoting our core values.
Kim Bowles
President
Kim Bowles is a scientist, artist, mother of two, and founder of Not Putting on a Shirt. She decided to go flat in 2017 as part of her breast cancer treatment plan, but her plastic surgeon intentionally left her with excess tissue to facilitate reconstruction. Kim went public with her story, and upon realizing that flat denial is a systemic problem requiring institutional change, decided to invest in pursuing parity for flat closure and helping women protect their choice. Kim has been featured in Cosmopolitan magazine, Women and the World, on the Today Show, and more.
Email: bowleskb@notputtingonashirt.org
Christy Avila
Vice President
Christy Avila is a career educator, mother, and explant and flat closure advocate. She founded Fierce, Flat, Forward, a support and advocacy group that encourages, guides, and educates other breast cancer survivors and previvors on going flat—whether at the time of initial mastectomy or post-explant. She herself chose to “go flat” after discovering breast implant illness (BII) and choosing to explant based on her subsequent research on breast implants as medical devices.
Christy co-founded “International FLAT Day,” (Oct. 7th), an annual event that celebrates FLAT and promotes flat closure and breast reconstruction awareness. In 2019, she testified before the US FDA at their Hearing on Breast Implant Safety in Washington DC, advocating for proper informed consent for breast cancer survivors. Christy serves on the faculty of the Communication Studies Department at San Jose City College where she has taught for over a decade. She looks forward to continuing her advocacy work to promote flat closure, explant, and informed consent.
Email: christy@notputtingonashirt.org
Devorah Vester
Secretary
Devorah Vester is an appellate attorney in Boston who helps persons with mental illness regain their agency, liberty and dignity. In July 2019, she had a double mastectomy after a local recurrence. Devorah always knew she did not want breast reconstruction, and feels fortunate that her breast surgeon – who told her about the flat movement – honored her choice. Devorah’s closely held values of integrity, transparency and individual autonomy make her an incredible asset to the NPOAS Board. Her goal at NPOAS is to bring all parties to the table – doctors, legislators, health insurers and patients – to make certain that in every state a woman’s right to full disclosure and informed consent is protected, and her decision to go flat is respected.
Email: devorah@notputtingonashirt.org
Shana Whitehead
Treasurer
Shana Whitehead is a wife, mother of four, and a regional director with Omnia Partners. Shana was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in January 2018. As a part of the treatment plan, Shana had a double mastectomy with tissue expanders placed in July of 2018. After one year with tissue expanders and suffering from BII symptoms, Shana made the decision to have them removed and decided on a flat closure. Shana was denied a flat result and moved forward with a revision in September 2019. As a result of her experience, she decided to make it her mission to advocate for women and their right to be fully informed about flat closure and acceptable outcomes.
Email: whiteheadsc@notputtingonashirt.org
Mimi Frazier
Board Member
Mimi Frazier is from the Washington DC area, and has over 12+ years of working in Housing Administration and the Human Resources field. She decided to take her career and life mission on another path after being diagnosed with Stage 3B HER2 Positive Invasive Breast Cancer in 2015. She established a safe and supportive social media community in 2019 for women fighting, surviving, and thriving with Breast Cancer. Linkage Beauty Movement LLC has since developed into a thriving foundation, solely focused on making a positive change in the lives of women fighting cancer around the world. Showcasing survivors, conducting outreach, linking women together, sending out Linkage Care Boxes, presenting awards, promoting physical fitness awareness, providing resources, and creating 100% Natural, Homemade Essential Wellness products for women to use on our skin and hair, is just some of the work she does daily. Currently, she is studying for her Master’s degree in Human Services at Walden University, with hopes of becoming a Professional Human Services Practitioner, developing Cancer Resource Centers across the United States by 2025. She’s excited to join the NPOAS Board of Directors in hopes of bringing compassion, hope, diversity, and diplomacy to share with everyone.
Email: mimi@notputtingonashirt.org
Main Telephone: 240-602-8875
Instagram: @linkagebeautyllc & @linkageessentials
Alternate Email: linkagebeautymovement@gmail.com
Not Putting on a Shirt is a 501(c)(3) organization advocating for optimal surgical outcomes for women who choose to go flat after mastectomy.
REGISTERED CHARITY ID# 84-3021062
FAIR USE STATEMENT
This site contains copyrighted material. Not Putting on a Shirt’s educational materials and resources on this site are freely available for “fair use” (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) in accordance with our mission to advocate for optimal outcomes for those who choose to go flat after mastectomy. The copyrighted material on this site is distributed for educational purposes without profit – all donations to Not Putting on a Shirt directly fund our advocacy work. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond “fair use”, you must first obtain explicit permission from the copyright owner. Please direct requests or questions to info@notputtingonashirt.org.