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Listen to
Your Heart
by Susan Braun
President & CEO of
The Sudan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
by workingwomen2000.com
In
the early 1990s, when Susan found out that
her roommate from college had died of breast
cancer at 36, she couldn't sit by quietly.
She was working for Bristol-Myers Squibb at
the time, and the news caused her to urge
the company to get further involved in more
patient advocacy programs. She also schooled
herself much more about breast cancer.
Susan was shocked to find out that the
disease was a main cause of death among
women in their middle years. "I figured that
if I didn't know it—and I had a graduate
degree in health and worked in an oncology
department—chances are the public didn't
know it either," she recalls. "I got
pretty fired up about finding the best ways
to help change the course of breast cancer
and the public's understanding of the
disease."
Her fervent role as an advocate expanded
when she started as president and chief
executive officer at the Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation in 1996. Susan is
truly a leader among women, as she estimates
her foundation's staff to be 90% female.
"Women should know that working for and with
other women is one of the most rewarding
experiences of a lifetime. There is a lot of
camaraderie here, and when someone is having
an issue, whether it is business or
personal, people rally around."
Susan knows that inspiring individuals to
become health advocates is one of the best
ways to create change, and she starts at
home with her teenage son, Alex. "I travel a
lot," she explains, "And I'll tell him that,
as important as it is for me to do what I
do, I miss him when I'm gone. He
understands. He knows how strongly I feel
about our mission, and he feels it, too."
A part of Susan's job is ensuring that the
foundation is moving in the direction that
its 70,000 volunteers believe it should.
"What's so fascinating to me is how many
people will come up during an event we run
and tell us, 'We do this because we know
how important it is, and we believe in this
cause.'" |
