Carolyn Treviño Jenkins, CEO of We Are Here, is transforming the way cancer care teams support patients, using predictive technology rooted in lived experience. From missed resources to millions in financial aid delivered, her journey is changing how hospitals and clinical trial networks care for the most vulnerable.
“We built what we wished we had during treatment”
Carolyn Treviño Jenkins knows firsthand how disorienting a cancer diagnosis can be. When she and her co-founder, both cancer survivors, were first diagnosed, they each received a generic binder filled with loosely relevant information. “We missed out on crucial support,” she says, “and had to spend time searching for the right help ourselves.”
That broken experience led to We Are Here, a software platform designed not just for patients, but for the social workers, navigators, and clinicians who support them. Built in Austin, Texas, the company’s platform helps cancer care teams deliver personalized, proactive support, matching patients with the right financial, emotional, logistical, and clinical resources using predictive algorithms.
We Are Here’s tools are now used across hospital systems and the broader cancer clinical trial ecosystem. The platform fills a major gap: helping overburdened care teams replace spreadsheets and Word docs with an intelligent system that reduces patient distress and frees up time to focus on what matters most, compassionate care.
“The real challenge is helping care teams adopt a better way”
One of Carolyn’s biggest challenges hasn’t been technical, it’s cultural. Social workers and clinicians are used to outdated workflows, and the shift toward predictive, tech-enabled engagement requires change management and support.
“Offering continual support to a patient has traditionally been infeasible,” she explains. But with We Are Here’s system, that support becomes scalable. Patients are automatically matched to relevant resources throughout their care journey, while staff are empowered to intervene more effectively.
This change in workflow is more than a software update, it’s a mindset shift. “We’re not just building software,” Carolyn says. “We’re modernizing the entire process of how cancer patients are supported.”
$3.5 million in support delivered, and counting
We Are Here has already made measurable impact. To date, the platform has connected cancer patients with over $3.5 million in financial aid, funds that help pay for treatment, access clinical trials, and stay on lifesaving medications.
The startup has also earned serious recognition. It’s the only company to be backed by AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative, Techstars Health, CancerHacker Lab, and CancerX. In fact, it was the first CancerX cohort company to secure a pilot partnership with a CancerX Champion during the program itself, an unprecedented milestone in cancer tech.
For Carolyn, these wins are proof of the platform’s value, but the motivation remains personal. “The number of patients who tell us our solution was the only helpful support they received,” she shares, “is what keeps us moving forward.”
The next chapter: scaling pilots, raising capital
As demand grows, so does the need for capital. Carolyn and her team are now launching a fundraising round to scale the many pilot opportunities they’ve been invited into. The goal is clear: to make We Are Here the default standard for patient support across all cancer types.
Over the next three years, Carolyn wants her platform to be the go-to solution for supporting cancer patients, not just with general guidance, but with exact, personalized resources that meet people where they are.
“Helping others navigate what we went through”
Carolyn’s mission is rooted in service, not ego. Her guiding principle is simple: to give others the kind of resource-matched, emotionally intelligent support that she and her co-founder lacked. Every patient success story, especially those where remission is reached because of timely help, reaffirms that purpose.
By combining survivor wisdom, scalable tech, and system-wide empathy, Carolyn Treviño Jenkins is quietly leading one of the most meaningful shifts in cancer care. Her journey is not just about innovation, it’s about making sure no patient feels alone again.
