Pamela Acosta Marquardt

In 1996, Pamela Acosta Marquardt lost her mother to pancreatic cancer following a six-month battle. After discovering there was no organization that dealt with pancreatic cancer, Marquardt became determined to do something to ensure that patients and families had a place to turn to for information, resources and hope.

In November 1998, she produced the An Evening with the Stars gala in Beverly Hills, by rallying and bringing together celebrity families who had lost loved ones to the disease. The gala was the first-ever major fundraising event for pancreatic cancer. Event proceeds funded the first early detection lab for pancreatic cancer at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. In February 1999, she founded the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network with the goal of it becoming a beacon of hope for those touched by the disease.

Marquardt served on the board of directors of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network prior to joining its staff full time in 2007. A devoted advocate and tenacious leader within the pancreatic cancer community, she is also a highly regarded public speaker, regularly addressing the organization’s mission and its goal of creating a brighter future for pancreatic cancer patients.

Previously, Marquardt was Executive Director of the American Heart Association in the Inland Empire area of Southern California, where she oversaw fundraising and development. She also served in a vice president capacity in various industries, including industrial metal recycling, where she developed marketing strategies and operational systems for a leading scrap metal company, and in fashion, where she oversaw private-label management and design, as well as site procurement and store design.