Find A Youth Mentor

Katie Jewell is a 20-year-old Alopecian living in Boulder, CO and attending the University of Colorado Boulder, where she is studying Integrated Physiology (i.e., pre-med). Her primary hobbies include reading, loving on her dog, playing all sorts of card/board games, and doing anything and everything outside. She shaved her head in September 2017 after her alopecia patches blossomed into big, bald, silver dollars throughout her scalp. Since then, she has been proudly letting her dynamic mosaic of a head breath at home, at school, at the restaurant where she waitresses, and everywhere else. Growing up, Katie was fortunate enough to have an older sister with alopecia universalis who lost all her hair when Katie was six (and her sister was nine). When Katie's first bout of alopecia hit at 15, she had an amazing role model to provide advice, friendship, and more than anything, someone who understood. Now, Katie wants to reach out to the young Alopecians and serve as their friend, peer, and mentor through the tricky waters of alopecia. Katie is excited to become a youth mentor, where she'll be able to build lasting relationships with her fellow Alopecians!

My name is Lindsey Graham, and I am originally from the Chicago suburbs of Illinois, but I currently attend the University of Iowa, and live in Iowa. I am double majoring in elementary education and art. I lost my hair just a year ago, when I was 20. I randomly started to experience hair loss, and after seeing a couple of doctors I was diagnosed with Alopecia. Within 2 weeks, I had lost all the hair on my head. This was shocking for me losing it all so quickly, and living 20 years prior without experiencing anything like this. I started by wearing wigs, but eventually I realized this was just an unnecessary strain on my life and I started to wear hats. My hair is now growing back, but I am unsure how long this will last. Either way, I have found peace with how things keep changing, and I have continued to live my life as normally as anyone else. Some things that I like to do are paint/ draw, spend time with my new puppy, hangout with my friends, go hiking, and watch movies. I also take Italian at the University and I love it, and am even going to Italy soon. Mentoring interests me because I am very extroverted and love to meet new people, especially people who are dealing with similar things as me!

Born and raised in Northern Michigan, I now live and work in the Los Angeles area. I’m currently a logistics officer in the Air Force at LA AF Base, happily married, and have two wonderful daughters, ages 3 &1. Before LA, my wife and I lived by Harrisburg, PA and Destin, FL. We both attended college at the University of Michigan and are big football fans. I started losing my hair during my sophomore year of high school with several patches on my scalp. I tried growing it out but the patches eventually grew too large to hide and I shaved all my hair by the start of my senior year. I’ve had Alopecia Areata since being diagnosed at 15 and have been bald since I was 17. I found it very hard to cope with as a teenager in a small high school and wish I knew someone at that time also with Alopecia. I’ve been involved with NAAF for several years and am excited to be a part of the mentorship program.

Hey! My name is Christine, I'm 25 and I was born, raised and currently reside in Boston, Massachusetts. I was diagnosed with Alopecia at the age of 20 while I was in my Junior year of college. During that time my mother was very ill and had gone into hospice and shortly after died. For this reason my dermatologist attributes my Alopecia Universalis diagnosis to stress. No one in my family has had alopecia nor had I shown any signs of Alopecia during my childhood. My diagnosis and new life as someone with Alopecia has been nothing short of a journey. Initially I was very closed off however I have truly come to embrace and love that I don't have hair! I currently work as an Emergency Medical Technician for the City of Boston and I own a small wood-working craft type business on the side. Through both of my jobs I am constantly interacting with the public which has in turn made me more comfortable with who I am. I'm so excited to become a youth mentor and help whoever I can in this alopecia journey.

Hi! My name is Ebony and I am from Jackson, Michigan. Currently I am not in school, but will be returning next year! At the age of 4 I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, which later turned into alopecia universalis. For the past 22 years of dealing with hair loss, it has been challenging trying to live a normal life. I was bullied and teased all throughout grade school simply because of my difference, even experiencing hospitalizations for other illnesses. I grew up in a single parent home, being raised by my mother. Throughout my childhood she made various hats for me to wear, in order to have a presentable look in public. Each school year trips were made to speak with school officials to expound on alopecia, so they could better assist me. My hair constantly fell out and grew back up until 5th grade, which began my wig journey and lead my mom to making my very first headband wig. When I turned 16, she taught me how to draw eyebrows and would draw them for me each morning before school until becoming skilled to do it myself. Which explains my now profession of being a Makeup Artist, I am full hair and makeup almost everyday. In 2015, NAAF was introduced to me, by way of pageantry. My mom and I had no knowledge of this organization prior to this time. Since beginning my pageant career, I had chosen alopecia awareness as my platform, which is how I got connected to NAAF. After meeting Gary, the rest became history. I am now a Legislative Liaison, Co-Captain of awareness events for Michigan, a Pageant Girl, Makeup Artist, YouTuber, Model, I am also a Christian, serving in ministry at my church! Summer 2016, was the very first time that my mother and I attended the NAAF Conference. It was an unforgettable experience being in Washington D.C. Meeting so many baldies for the first time and finally being comfortable in my skin. Accepting myself is a lesson that my mom has taught me from very young. Growing up I had struggled with self-confidence and would get discouraged due to rejection. Having gone through so many rough patches in life, helped me gain an amazing amount of strength! I didn’t have anyone to look up to for guidance, so I want to be of an inspiration and help in any way that I can. If it weren’t for alopecia, I wouldn’t be the woman that I am today.

Hi! My name is Briana Muñoz-Flores, but you can call me Bri. I was diagnosed with Alopecia Unviersalis when I was 4 years old. It was hard in school trying to understand why I was different and dealing with bullies. But my parents taught me to "Hide in The Open", meaning I stopped hiding my beautiful head under hats and began to be proud of my head and that I never had to shave! I found my passion and release in music, so I decided to attend UCLA and graduate with a degree in Ethnomusicology (Playing/Studying Music in other cultures) and Afro-American Studies. I, then, went on to attend USC and graduated with my Masters in Student Affairs. I now work at UCLA creating programming to help graduate students connect to the campus and community. I love to sing, read, and watch movies. I am currently loving Korean Dramas! I am still working out the kinks of being Bald and I don't claim to know everything about having Alopecia, but I'm excited to finally get involved with NAAF.

Hi, my name is Angela Acuna. I'm 28 years old living in Philadelphia (born and raised!) and working for IKEA in Supply Chain Management. I attended Saint Joseph's University and majored in International Business and was a rower there as well. I have been dealing with alopecia since I was 19 years old. I wear a wig most of the time, not because I think I have to - but because I love my wig! People always think all my hair grew back when I tell them I have alopecia. But I have a very large baseball cap collection that I like to wear when I don't feel like wearing a wig. In my free time I really enjoy travelling - I've been to 15 countries in Europe, China, and Chile, and hopefully many more to come! I also enjoy taking advantage of everything Philly has to offer - restaurants, history, museums, parks, and of course all the free exercise classes! It's taken me a long time to learn how to be comfortable with myself with alopecia, but also to learn all the different tools, techniques, and products that are available to help make living with alopecia easier. I would really like to share that with the younger generation so they have an easier time then I did!

Hi! My name is Ashley Abraham. I am a high school senior in the D.C. Metropolitan area and I currently live in southern Maryland. I have had alopecia since I was two years old, so basically I have had it for as long as I can remember. Initially, I had alopecia universalis, but around the age of 13, I started doing PRP (platelet-rich-plasma) injections which allowed me to grow a lot of my hair back so currently I have alopecia areata. Growing up in elementary school and middle school with alopecia has made me struggle with my identity and acceptance of alopecia, I often felt alone since I didn’t know anyone else who could relate to me. Over the years I have learned to embrace my alopecia and appreciate myself for who I am. I would love to help anyone else who may be going through the same thing, or even help parents who may want to talk to someone who understands what it’s like. As a small kid, I have tried many different ways to cope with my alopecia such as wearing hats and wigs. I have had to deal with both internal and external struggles caused by my alopecia. It definitely took some time to get to the point where I am today, and I want to help in that process of figuring out what makes you feel the most confident and becoming the best version of yourself. A few fun facts about me are that I play tennis, I love to draw, I love to go shopping, I also like to go hiking/bike riding, and I love animals. I also love meeting new people and I look forward to hearing from you!

Hi, I’m Orly! I grew up in Jersey, and recently moved to Philly to begin dental school. I enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, bike riding, and whale watching. I love exploring new places with my husband and friends, and I also enjoy playing board games and doing puzzles. I have had Alopecia for the past twelve years; areata for four years and universalis for eight years. When I was diagnosed at age 11, I was devastated and sure that I would never feel normal again. So much of my time and thoughts were consumed by covering up the bald spots and worrying that people would notice. Then, when I was in 9th grade, 85% of my hair rapidly fell out over the course of a week! At that time, being bald felt so dehumanizing. I distinctly remember looking at my bald head in the mirror as I stretched out my arms. With my arms outstretched, I felt more like a starfish than a human, because my hairless head felt more to me like a fifth limb than a human head! On top of that, I didn’t know anyone else with alopecia universalis, so I felt very alone. Since I could no longer hide my alopecia, I was finally forced to confront it head-on, and I decided that I wasn’t willing to let it stop me from living my life. Over time, and with the support of my wonderful family and friends, I have achieved a level of comfort with my alopecia that it no longer negatively impacts my life. In fact, I am aware of many positive ways it has shaped me as a person. I wish that a mentorship program like this existed when I was first going through this process, because I believe that connecting with even one other person with alopecia would have made my journey a lot easier. That is why I am excited to provide that support for someone else going through the same thing I went through. I am looking forward to connecting with you!

Hi, my name is Nolan Holbrook. I am 20 years old and a junior at the University of Miami, majoring in Microbiology and Immunology. I first found out that I had Alopecia Areata when I was in the fifth grade. My hair started falling out along with the onset of obsessive compulsive disorder. As my OCD continually got worse throughout my middle school years, so did my alopecia. At first I was able to hide the hair loss pretty well with hats, or by keeping my hair longer, because I felt different and didn’t want anyone to know. But once the bald spots got bigger it was impossible for people to not start noticing. Whenever I was questioned about the bald spots I would feel more and more like an outcast, and soon alopecia felt like it was consuming my life. I tried many different treatment methods including topical medicine, aroma therapy, and steroid injections. For a couple years, everything I tried didn’t show any results. I realized that alopecia was something that I was going to have to deal with, that it was a part of my life and stopped caring what other people thought of my hair. I began to gain control over my OCD and decrease my anxiety/stress levels. After decreasing my stress and continuing with steroid injections, I began seeing hair growth and promising results in the eight grade. Slowly I started to gain back most of my hair, and now have not had to deal with any hair loss for a few years. When I am not studying or working at a hospital in Boston in the summer (where I am originally from), I enjoy: playing lacrosse and soccer, watching sports, watching movies, going to the beach, listening to music, volunteering, cooking and trying new food, traveling, and running. I am looking forward to connecting with my first mentee!