Wunmi Bakare is a multicultural citizen and advocacy trailblazer in the sickle cell and rare disease communities. Fueled by purpose and the pursuit of social inclusion, my advocacy efforts focus on erasing the stigma of sickle cell disease through proactive and reactive engagement with the media. She sits on the curative therapy advisory board for Beam Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals and is a patient ambassador for Health Union and AllStripes. She was diagnosed with the most severe type of sickle cell disease (HbSS) at 18 months then participated in a clinical trial at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI) where she received an allogeneic stem cell transplant in 2019.