Nancy Brinker 

Founder and Chair, Global Strategy, Susan G. Komen®

While people throughout the country associate October with the orange and yellow colors of fall, pink has become the month's primary color. Pink is a symbol of hope and awareness for breast cancer patients, survivors and supporters - a color that became synonymous with breast cancer awareness in 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons at Race for the Cure® in New York City to recognize breast cancer survivors. Pink represents the movement started by Nancy Brinker after her sister, Susan G. Komen, passed away from breast cancer at the age of 36. Brinker, also a breast cancer survivor, founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in 1982, an organization that has invested more than $2.2 billion into breast cancer research, community health outreach, patient assistance, screening and education programs around the world, and started the most successful fundraising event for breast cancer ever created - Race for the Cure®, now with 1.6 million participants in 140 races on four continents.

JustAskBoo spoke exclusively with Brinker, who also serves as the U.N. World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control and splits time in Washington, D.C. and South Florida, about her lifelong mission to end breast cancer.

What memory stands out the most in your 30 years as a breast cancer survivor and awareness advocate?

There are so many, it's really difficult to pinpoint one. I'm fortunate that I'm able to meet so many women and families who have been helped by our organization, and it is enormously gratifying to me to know that there are women alive today because of research we've funded, or a screening that we paid for, or even just because of our amazing community. At the same time, I never lose the memory of people whose lives were ended too early, and that makes me more determined than ever to finish what we started with my promise to Suzy - that I would do everything in my power to end breast cancer.

You founded this movement on a promise to your sister, Suzy, three decades ago. What are you most proud of about Komen and the progress of the breast cancer movement?

It's very, very gratifying to see that breast cancer death rates have dropped by 33 percent since 1990 in this country, and that five-year survival rates for early stage cancers are now at 98 percent. They were 74 percent when we started.  I'm very proud of the research that's brought new treatments and more options for women - options that didn't exist when Suzy was sick. I'm probably most proud that we talk about this disease now, so that no woman suffers this disease in silence like Suzy and so many did back in the 1970s.

Where is the research going? Do you see "cures" any time soon?

We hope so. As I said, we now have five-year survival rates for early stage cancers of 98 percent. That's a huge improvement in really a sliver of time - just 30 years.  We've made so much progress understanding that breast cancer comes in many forms. We have new and less invasive ways to screen and treat the disease. Now, we absolutely must address two issues: better treatments for metastatic and aggressive forms of breast cancer; and finding ways to prevent breast cancer all together. Susan G. Komen is heavily invested in this research.

What is your favorite pink accessory or article of clothing to wear?

I love our new Komen WEAR bracelets, designed by Ashley Taylor Bronczek and Stephanie Ahr, two wonderful designers and part of Komen's Young Professionals. Of course, the Pink Ribbon always holds a special place in my heart because it symbolizes the progress we have made, from the days when breast cancer was talked about in whispers to today, when our mission to end this terrible disease reaches around the world.

What is your favorite thing to do when you're in South Florida?

For me, South Florida is place to unwind.  I love walking through town and seeing friends and familiar faces that give the area such a sense of community. The beautiful climate, the trees and flowers, the fresh air and the ocean - all are such simple pleasures that allow one to focus on the things that are really important. The natural beauty of South Florida is something I try to never take for granted.