Nancy G. Brinker ignited the global breast cancer movement more than 25 years ago by promising her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died at age 36 of the disease that she would put an end to the shame, the pain, the fear and the hopelessness that breast cancer caused.

In 1982, Ambassador Brinker, along with a handful of dedicated friends, founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in her sister's memory. In the face of social criticism, she started the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, the most successful fundraising and education event for charity ever created. Additionally, she pioneered cause-related marketing to bring millions more people—from top executives to everyday consumers—into the ranks of the breast cancer battle. Her patient advocacy work resulted in the development of many new treatment options and a higher quality of life overall for breast cancer patients and long-term survivors. Susan G. Komen for the Cure has played a role in every major advance in breast cancer and is 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. Komen for the Cure is the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.

In addition to her personal dedication to the breast cancer movement, today Ambassador Brinker serves the United States as Chief of Protocol. The former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, Ambassador Brinker is globally known as an agent of change and was included in TIME's "100 Most Influential People" in 2008 and has received numerous appointments and accolades for her work.