Advocate Spotlight: Beatrice Cardenas-Duncan

Great grandma, grassroots advocate, offers retirement challenge to seniors

Bea Cardenas-Duncan, 78, is a double retiree who believes seniors are a “forgotten community” with untapped influence to improve health and wellness. Affectionately known as “Miss Bea,” her challenge for fellow seniors wanting to get involved can be summed up in one sentence: Leave a legacy. 

Volunteer. Find a respected organization that values your strengths. 

After retiring from the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services in 2006, Miss Bea worked at Holiday Inn Civic Center, where she launched a health and wellness program so successful it became a corporate template. This effort sparked her long-term relationship with the American Heart Association. 

After her second retirement, the Heart Association welcomed Miss Bea as a grassroots advocate. Over the years she has written letters, called lawmakers and met face-to-face with elected officials at San Francisco City Hall, the state capitol in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C.  

Her voice reached federal lawmakers in 2010, when she attended her first federal lobby day in Washington, D.C. to urge passage of the Affordable Care Act by sharing her grandson’s experience not having access to health insurance.  

From 2011–2015, Miss Bea co-chaired the Shape Up San Francisco Coalition, promoting citywide fitness along with American Heart Association and other organizations. She later testified in support of a sugary drink tax in Oakland, which passed with the backing of the Heart Association through a ballot initiative in 2016. The tax revenue provides funding for important community health programs. 

More recently, Miss Bea testified before California legislators in favor of eliminating the sale of flavored tobacco products – including menthol cigarettes. “It can be nerve-wracking preparing to speak in front of people you don’t know,” she said, “but it is so rewarding when legislation you’ve fought for passes.” 

Your voice matters. Miss Bea urges her neighbors to know their representatives and to speak up and speak out in support of policies that improve lives and create healthier communities.  

She talks openly about the importance of voting and advocates in her community against nicotine and tobacco use, reminding her grandchildren and great-grandchildren not to start. “If grandma says something, the kids listen,” she quipped. In fact, it’s a message her college-athlete great-grandson now shares with peers. She urges fellow seniors, often caretakers in the family, to speak to their grandchildren as well. 

Keep learning. Miss Bea didn’t earn her undergraduate degree until she was 64 and then went on to earn a master’s degree seven years later. At 78, she would still like to work toward a doctorate. She speaks fluent Spanish and English, plus some Korean and French, and plans to learn additional languages.  

Embrace who you are. Proud of her Mexican and Black heritage, Miss Bea encourages family, friends and fellow seniors to celebrate their own heritage and what they have and will accomplish.  

“Who you are is beautiful,” she said.  

Though she no longer drives, she walks, rides or uses transit to attend volunteer meetings. Her home reflects her joy, filled with family photos and awards, including the President’s Call to Service Award, which President Obama selected her to win in 2012 for her commitment to volunteerism. 

A leukemia survivor for more than a decade, Miss Bea says, “My illness helped me realize that life is beautiful.” She knows her work will leave a legacy—and she’s not stopping. 

To learn more about the American Heart Association’s Heart Powered movement, join us at the heart of progress. Text HEART to 46839 or visit HeartPowered.org.