Susan G. Komen for the Cure
| Non-Profit | |
| Founded | 1982 in Dallas, Texas |
| Founder | Nancy Goodman Brinker |
| Headquarters | 5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250 Dallas, Texas 75244 |
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Key people
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Judith A. Salerno (President & CEO) Nancy Brinker (Founder) Dr. George W. Sledge, Jr. (Chief Scientific Adviser) Connie O'Neill (Chair, Board of Directors) |
| Website | [3] |
Susan G. Komen, formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure and originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the United States.
Since its inception in 1982, Komen has spent (through 2010) nearly $1.5 billion for breast cancer education, research, advocacy, health services and social support programs in the U.S., and through partnerships in more than 50 countries. Today, Komen has more than 100,000 volunteers working in a network of 124 affiliates worldwide.
According to the Harris Interactive 2010 EquiTrend annual brand equity poll, Komen was once one of the most trusted non-profit organizations in America. In 2012, Komen's controversial attempt to withdraw funding for mammogram referrals provided by Planned Parenthood caused a significant decline in donations, event participation and public trust. The organization was further criticized for its use of donor funds, the CEO's 64% pay raise after the significant drop in donations, its administration costs, its choice of sponsor affiliations, its role in commercial cause marketing and its use of misleading statistics in advertising. In March 2013, Komen dropped from Charity Navigator's highest rating of four stars down to three stars and then to two stars in 2014. As of June 2016, Komen is back to three stars, with a score of 81 out of 100.
Susan Goodman, later Susan Goodman Komen, was born in 1943 in Peoria, Illinois. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. She died of the disease at age 36 in 1980. Komen's younger sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, who believed that Susan's outcome might have been better if patients knew more about cancer and its treatment, promised her sister that she would do everything she could to end breast cancer. To fulfill that promise, Brinker founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Komen's memory in 1982.
In 2008, the 25th anniversary of the organization, the name was changed to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and trademarked a new logo in support of its promise "to end breast cancer forever." The new logo is a pink ribbon that resembles a runner in motion and is meant to reflect the importance of Komen's signature Race for the Cure event, which is currently the world's largest fund raising event for breast cancer education and research. The logo symbolically associates the organization with the values of breast cancer awareness ("pink ribbon culture"): fear of breast cancer, hope, and the charitable goodness of people and businesses who publicly support the breast cancer movement.
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