In 1982, shortly after Susan’s death from breast cancer at the age of 36, Brinker founded Susan G. Komen®. Brinker faced an uphill battle: newspapers balked at printing the words “breast cancer”, no one talked openly about the disease, there was no internet and few, if any, support groups. Few treatment options existed for breast cancer patients and limited resources were committed to the disease. Brinker broke the silence around breast cancer, and Komen 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 the cures. Today, the organization has invested $3.2 billion in cancer research, education, screening and treatment.

Nancy’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® series, 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 end the disease forever. Komen’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 Nancy 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 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 2001-2003, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary and served as U.S. Chief of Protocol from 2007‐2009 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.  

In 2018, Brinker spearheaded the creation of the Promise Fund of Florida, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the outcomes and reduce deaths from breast and cervical cancers in South Florida. This region faces significant healthcare disparities, with over 80,000 uninsured women in Palm Beach County alone. The Promise Fund is creating a systemic change in healthcare service delivery through its Continuum of Care model in which patients are provided health education, navigation for breast and cervical health, affordable early detection screenings, diagnostics, treatment, and/or support services through an established network of providers, reducing healthcare costs, alleviating the burden of our complex healthcare system, and improving patient outcomes. Established in Palm Beach County, has potential to be scaled across Florida and beyond. Brinker’s work on the Promise Fund has been featured nationally across the U.S. and was also prominently recognized at the Aspen Ideas Weekend among world leaders in Abu Dhabi. The Promise Fund of Florida also participates in the Cancer Moonshot and has been recognized by the Biden Administration as an exemplary model of what the Moonshot intends to achieve.

Brinker is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has received numerous accolades for her global work, including the prestigious Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, 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, the Forbes Trailblazer Award, Ladies Home Journal’s “100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century”, and the Anti‐Defamation League Americanism Award. She was named one of the 100 Most Trusted People in America by Reader’s Digest in 2013. In 2015 she was inducted to the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 2016 she received the Order of Lincoln Award, ‐ Illinois’ highest honor for professional achievement and public service. Her work also includes advocating for equality in the LGBT community, and she is honored to be a member of the Harvey Milk Foundation’s leadership and advisory board. Brinker currently serves as Global Advisor to HOLOGIC Inc. and is a contributor for Newsmax. Read Less ^