TJ Cardenas was elected president of the STC New York Metro chapter in 2019 and was serving his third term as president. Concurrently, he was also an active member of the STC Alliance Competition Council.

As STC NY Metro past president and member, Julie Waxgiser, said, “TJ was always such a positive voice and force.” We will remember him as an energetic chapter president and leader, driving the STC to new heights with his ideas, curiosity, and dedication to the technical communications profession.

Other STC chapter leaders saw TJ as a passionate and substantial leader. According to Carolyn Kelley Klinger, STC Alliance Competition chair, "TJ was a visionary leader who inspired me and others with his creative ideas. He was articulate in expressing the goals of the project, which grounded the rest of us and unleashed our own creativity. I will miss his passion for our profession, his big vision, but most of all the kindness and empathy that he communicated above all else."

He brought passion and innovation to everything he did, in our chapter and beyond, and as a lead at his influential and fast-growing company, Medidata.

TJ was an outspoken cancer survivor, often talking about why he was so committed to Medidata, a company that runs clinical drug trial software in the cloud. He felt he could contribute to work that had a direct impact on his life, having participated in the clinical trials during his own treatment he had been in as well.

In his own words:

“As a senior content strategist at Medidata Acorn AI Labs in New York, I own the customer-facing content strategy for Intelligent Trials, a suite of predictive modeling, data mining, and analytics tools. My mission is to create a knowledge strategy that facilitates comprehension of the modeling capabilities and visualization of the metrics and key performance indicators. From concepts, data models, and process flowcharts to slide decks, regulatory matrices, and portals, I am passionate about my audience and focused on delivering product knowledge and a wide spectrum of content, hands-on.”

TJ is survived by his wife Alicia and their adult children Joe and Anna, as well as their families. He relished being a new grandparent. He and his wife Alicia enjoyed visiting their grandkids as much as possible and discovering new cultures and cuisines, traveling, and exploring his Pacific Islander and Iberian ancestries.

Thank you to Christine Boese, Malu Schloss and Aiessa Moyna