We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ana Van Bosse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ana, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I remember my mother always being kind to everyone, whether it was someone who worked for our business or neighbors or someone asking for food. She always instilled compassion and gratitude. “We have a lot to be grateful for”, she often said and we have to give back. These feelings of sharing and giving back have always stuck with me and I’m hoping I can pass that down to my own kids.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an immigrant who left her country because of war; truly typical of so many others before and after me. I love learning and still do; there is always something fascinating waiting to be discovered! A new language, a new fact, a new skill. When I landed in NYC at age 13, I was in a new country, not a word of English, a feeling of wonder with a hint of fear of the unknown. My brother and I stayed with relatives until graduating college. A few years later, I got my MBA. I had a lot of fun working in the private sector for 20 years. After finding the love of my life, we got married and have two amazing sons. Now I dedicate myself to my charities. My personal favorite is AMCSI ( a 501 C 3 , Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita Support Inc.). Arthrogryposis is a rare condition: 1 in 3000. Kids are born with contracted joints and low muscle tone, some use wheelchairs and many endure many surgeries for a chance to walk. The resilience and bravery I see in these families cannot be put into words. They are my heroes!

I have known about arthrogryposis for twenty years now, my then boyfriend (now husband) and I went to India for a medical mission. Since then I have attended many conferences here in the US and now that we have moved to ST. Louis, my co-chair, Caroline Raposo and I have decided to start our local chapter. Her son Davin has arthrogryposis. We are so excited to host our first events here in STL and it’s a double header, because why not? a one-day conference with arthrogryposis leaders in the medical field, including my husband Harold, followed by a fundraiser/awareness walk in Tilles park, Ladue.

I have overcome difficulties in my life, but nothing like these brave AMCers have faced in their short little lives. I will continue to be an advocate for the arthrogryposis community here in St. Louis by facilitating strong bonds and safety nets around local families.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been times in my academic journey where times were tough and I needed to keep the end in mind in order to keep afloat. Math was my favorite subject when I entered the school system in the U.S.. There wasn’t as much language needed to solve math equations – numbers were my friends! However, I was soon advised that if I didn’t learn English over the Summer break , that I would  have to repeat a grade. Well, guess how much fun I had that Summer? I had always loved school and it didn’t matter what language, I was going to do well. Later in my journey, I remember it was junior year in college and I was getting stuck. There were some issues at home; I was working almost a full time job in order to pay tuition and rent and I wasn’t doing as well in school as I thought. I recall visiting one of my professors at his office, I had gotten a C in his class and he was trying to tell me ways how to improve it. As I looked around his office, I saw a picture of a young woman smiling in a picture taken in Italy. He told me about his daughter and how she had taken time to travel and after college. That picture seemed so far from where I was at the time, that I started to cry. He was very sympathetic and told me ” you’ll get to that too”. Well, two years later, I did take my first trip, of many, abroad to Switzerland. After graduating college, I knew I wanted to get an MBA but it took about a year before I could get into a program. I remember thinking, will I ever get in? During that time, I took additional courses and certificates which helped me with my application. I finally got in and was very thankful that I had finished my academic journey but not without bumps on the road. You always have to keep the end in mind.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My time in the private sector was fun. I worked for a telecommunications company, learning new skills, meeting people and enjoying different positions within the company. In 2008, when I got married and moved to a new city, I thought OK well I’ll just get a job there. I really thought it’d be easy with my background and experience that a new job would be easy to find. It may have been the case if it hadn’t been for the 2008 fallout. Yes, there were no jobs out there! I had to reinvent myself and after taking on the most difficult yet rewarding job in the world, motherhood, Here I am again reinventing myself. Getting involved with a non-profit is also fun and rewarding. I am loving my newfound purpose.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: amcsupport.org