While she is a cancer survivor, Portia considers herself a thriver. Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2013, she never looked back after undergoing successful chemotherapy treatment. In 2014, she started running and began her involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program by completing her first ever race, the Rock ‘n Roll Seattle Half Marathon in June 2014 As a TNT participant she has raised nearly $40,000 for LLS by running several half marathons around the country including Seattle, Anchorage, Austin, Disney World, and Washington, DC, and a full marathon in Prague, Czech Republic. Recently, she added hiking to her TNT athletic fundraising activities, hiking the Colorado Rockies in June 2023 and Grand Canyon coming up in May 2024. She has also completed two Sprint Triathlons. Portia is a communications consultant with extensive experience in journalism, public relations and marketing. Her areas of expertise include communications strategy development, social media strategy, digital content development, marketing collateral development, media relations and media training, and event planning and management. She has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s); Vice President of Public Affairs at the national cable television network, the Odyssey Channel (now Hallmark Channel); Associate Director of Public Affairs for Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC and Vice President of Public Affairs at Liberty Medical Center in Baltimore, MD. She began her career in news and worked as a news writer for WBAL-TV, news anchor for WFBR-AM, and staff writer/business editor for the Afro-American newspaper, all in Baltimore, as well as news director/anchor at WAMD-AM in Aberdeen, MD. A native of Baltimore, MD, Portia is a resident of Union, New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications from Towson University in Towson, Maryland.