Susan G. Komen founder receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Founder Given Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor for Work to Save Lives and End Breast Cancer ForeverWASHINGTON, D.C. – August 12, 2009 – Calling her a catalyst to ease suffering in the world, President Barack Obama today honored Susan G. Komen for the Cure® founder and cancer advocate Ambassador Nancy Goodman Brinker with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Brinker, whose promise to her dying sister, Susan G. Komen launched the global breast cancer movement 27 years ago, received the Medal of Freedom for her leadership in building Komen for the Cure into a global force for change for people with breast cancer.

“One of the last things Suzy Komen did before she died was to have her sister Nancy make her a promise,” Obama said. “Nancy promised that she would prevent other families fighting breast cancer from suffering the way that her family had. What began as a shoe box with $200 and a list of friends has become a global Race for the Cure; a campaign that has eased the pain and saved the lives of millions of people around the world. In the months after making that promise, Nancy lay awake at night wondering if one person can really make a difference. Nancy’s life is the answer.”

Brinker is currently founding chair for the organization and Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control for the United Nations’ World Health Organization. She is a leading advocate for cancer control programs in the United States and around the world.

Under her leadership, Komen has built more than 120 Affiliate organizations in the United States and three abroad, with a presence in 50 countries, and has invested more than $1.3 billion into research and outreach programs since inception. Still, she notes, there is more to be done.
“We are, clearly, facing a global cancer crisis,” Brinker said. “Cancer is already killing more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. It will affect one in two men and one in three women in their lifetimes. Too little attention is being paid to the human suffering and the social and economic impacts of this disease, here in the U.S. and especially in countries with few resources to combat it.”

Brinker accepted the honor in her sister’s memory, and on behalf of 1.5 million Komen supporters worldwide. “For years, Komen’s friends and advocates have put in the long hours, and done the hard work, to raise awareness and end suffering from breast cancer,” she said.
She was one of 16 recipients of the honor at the White House today.

“Nancy G. Brinker’s unique passion and determination have been a blessing to all those whose lives have been touched by breast cancer,” the Medal of Freedom citation said.
Doing everything she can to end breast cancer foreverNancy Brinker’s story began in Peoria, Ill., with a promise to her sister, Susan Goodman Komen, that she would do everything she could to end breast cancer forever. Susan Komen died of breast cancer in 1980, at the age of 36, after a three-year battle with the disease. Brinker was diagnosed with breast cancer just two years later at age 37.

“At that time, you didn’t talk about breast cancer. There were no 800-numbers, no Internet. Our government didn’t spend much on breast cancer research. There were few major breast cancer centers. That’s the world we faced when Suzy was diagnosed. It’s a world I watched her suffer in, and it’s a world she wanted us to change,” Brinker said.
Determined to keep her promise, in 1982 Brinker launched what was then called the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation from her living room in Dallas. The name was changed to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 2007.

Brinker overcame initial resistance to her efforts. “We found that potential sponsors didn’t want to be associated with cancer, especially a cancer of the breast. Papers didn’t want to print the words ‘breast cancer.’ It was very much an uphill battle,” Brinker said.
Nevertheless, she persevered, and in 1983 the first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® was run around a Dallas shopping mall with about 800 people. Today, more than 1.5 million people run annually in Komen Race for the Cure events in more than 120 U.S. and 14 international cities. This October, Komen will hold its first Race for the Cure around the Giza Pyramids in Cairo.

Along the way, Brinker pioneered the concept of “cause-related marketing” and established the color pink as the iconic representation for breast cancer. Today, almost 300 global and national companies are Komen sponsors, providing funding to help fulfill the organization’s promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

In 2001, Brinker was named U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, where she enlisted the aid of the U.S. State Department, local women, health professionals and non-governmental organizations in what she terms “global health diplomacy” to raise awareness for breast cancer in that country.
From there, Brinker and Komen launched an international breast cancer initiative, focused on low- to middle-income countries and building a presence in 50 countries in high-need areas, including Africa, Central and South America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Later, Brinker served as U.S. Chief of Protocol from 2007-2009, where she continued to engage world leaders in the need for global cancer control.