Hong Kong
Our Journey to a Breast Cancer-Free World
Company Feature, Oct 12, 2017
Notes from Bari Seiden-Young
When Evelyn H. Lauder first asked me to lead The Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign in 2009, I said “no.” At the time, my husband had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. My grandmother died of it, my cousins carry the BRCA gene, and many close friends had been touched by cancer. And while giving back was in my DNA, work was my escape. I didn't think it was healthy for me to have cancer in both my personal life and work life. But Evelyn persisted, saying, “I know in the end this is going to be the best thing for you.” And she was right.
Bari Seiden-Young pictured in her office
For the past seven years I have had the opportunity, along with my team and colleagues, to mobilize our company in its largest corporate philanthropic endeavor, The Breast Cancer Campaign, which Evelyn first launched 25 years ago. It has been a privilege and a source of personal and professional satisfaction to see how research specifically supported by The Estée Lauder Companies has led to breakthroughs in breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship.
To date, we've raised $70 million to advance pioneering research through organizations like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF, founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder) and 60 other global charities. Our support has had lifesaving impacts. A few examples include: the decrease in breast cancer mortality rates (by 38% since the late 1980s); the fact that surgery is not as invasive today; and the advent of customized treatments to a person’s type of breast cancer. Breast cancer is still the most common cancer in women worldwide, but we are on a mission to change that.
This is a pivotal year for us as we mark the campaign’s 25th Anniversary. The progress that has been made around the world in terms of awareness of the disease has prompted us to rename our efforts “The Breast Cancer Campaign” —dropping the word “Awareness”— and sharpening our focus to create a breast cancer-free world. This year, our iconic pink ribbon is tattered in our advertising and campaign materials, reflecting that it’s been a long, hard struggle to raise awareness levels. Breast cancer is a serious disease and we remain dedicated to seeing it through to the cure. We are also upping the ante by embarking on our campaign’s most ambitious one-year fundraising goal of $8 million.
Breast cancer is a serious disease and we remain dedicated to seeing it through to the cure.
Keeping the cause front and center is not without its challenges. As a public company, we need to make sure that we are in line and fiscally responsible in managing The Breast Cancer Campaign. We conduct quantitative and qualitative research to help us stay ahead of the curve and to ensure that our efforts remain relevant over the next three to five years, which isn’t easy giving the rapid pace of change in so many dimensions of our business and our lives.
A look inside the office of Bari Seiden-Young, head of The Estée Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Campaign
What is gratifying is to have the Company’s support at every level. Our leadership embraces the cause. They believe it's important for our employees, for our business, and to give back in the communities in which we live and serve. The Breast Cancer Campaign is a rallying cry for our employees around the world. They take such pride and show such creativity in executing strategies that are locally relevant in their communities. Everyone's been touched by breast cancer, somehow, some way. And their enthusiastic participation is an authentic way to connect with colleagues around the world and to link back to the Lauder family values. It's incredible, but not surprising.
That’s because this is a caring company. Twenty five years ago, when someone was affected by breast cancer, no one spoke about it. But Evelyn Lauder was there, calling that person, checking in on them, making sure that they and their family were well cared for. Our company has done a great job keeping that “loving hands at home” philosophy alive, with free mammograms for U.S. employees and educational seminars and with a new helpline for the Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center. All of these key support systems and benefits are helping our employees live stronger, better lives.
So we are putting a stake in the ground to stay in this fight until a cure is found. I want to be able to say I was part of a team that was able to accomplish this in our lifetime, in honor of Evelyn H. Lauder and all of those affected by breast cancer. We still have a ways to go, but thanks to Executive Chairman William P. Lauder, CEO Fabrizio Freda, our executive leadership team, our employees and partners around the world, we are motivated to complete this mission. To know that this company is enabling us to support and find a cure is a true gift.
Bari Seiden-Young is Vice President, Global Corporate Communications for The Estée Lauder Companies, leading The Breast Cancer Campaign, philanthropic and Lauder Family communications. She assumed this role in 2010, and sadly lost her husband to cancer in October of that year. Bari originally joined the Company in 2001, as Vice President, Global Communications, overseeing communications for the Aramis and Designer Fragrances division. During her tenure, she added Specialty Brands and Corporate Social and Digital Media to her portfolio. Prior to joining ELC she spent a decade at award-winning public relations agencies. She serves on the Advisory Board of BCRF, was a former board member of Fashion Group International and resides on the Parent Committee of Duke University. She is active in various nonprofit organizations including as a member of Cosmetic Executive Women and Women in Communications. She resides in New York City with her new husband and their two sons.
