Cultural Diversity Roster

Shortly after Komen’s death from breast cancer at the age of 36, Brinker founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1982. She faced an immediate uphill battle: newspapers balked at printing the words “breast cancer,” no one talked openly about the disease, there were no “800” numbers, no Internet, and few (if any) support groups. Few treatment options existed for breast cancer patients and limited resources were committed to the disease. In a matter of years, Brinker broke the silence around breast cancer and Komen for the Cure is now the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all, and energize science to find a cure. Today, the organization has invested more than $2.2 billion in breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment.

Brinker’s creativity in raising awareness led to programs that at the time were revolutionary: In 1983, she founded the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which is now the world’s largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast cancer. She also pioneered cause-related marketing, allowing millions to participate in the fight against breast cancer through businesses that share Komen’s commitment to ending the disease forever. Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s unwavering advocacy for breast cancer survivors led to new legislation and greater government research funding. Major advances in breast cancer research have been touched by hundreds of millions of dollars in Komen funding.

Brinker’s determination to create a world without breast cancer is matched by her passion for enlisting every segment of society—from leaders to citizens—to participate in the battle. In 2009, President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for this work. The same year, she was named Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control for the United Nations’ World Health Organization, where she continues her mission to put cancer control at the top of the world health agenda. In 2013, along with First Lady Michelle Obama and President and Mrs. Bush, Brinker helped launch the Pink-Ribbon Red-Ribbon Initiative in Tanzania, Africa.

In 2010, Brinker released her New York Times best-selling memoir, Promise Me, an inspirational story of her transformation from bereaved sister to the undisputed leader of the ongoing international movement to end breast cancer. She was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2008. From 2001 to 2003, she served as US Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary and most recently served as US Chief of Protocol from 2007 to 2008, where she was responsible for overseeing all protocol matters for visiting heads of state and presidential travel abroad. In 2008, President George W. Bush appointed her to The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees.

She has received numerous accolades for her work, including the prestigious Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award, the Trumpet Foundation’s President’s Award, the Independent Women’s Forum Barbara K. Olson Woman of Valor Award, the Champions of Excellence Award presented by the Centers for Disease Control, the Porter Prize presented by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and the Forbes Trailblazer Award. She has also been recognized as one of Ladies’ Home Journal’s 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century and among Biography magazine’s 25 Most Powerful Women in America.