bca campaign – Bare it All

As our Power Figures monthlong series continues, we managed to snag a coveted slot on Bari Seiden-Young’s jam-packed calendar: Bari is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and she leads the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on behalf of ELC, focusing media attention on annual high-wattage efforts to raise major awareness and funds that fuel life-saving research.

No matter if she’s illuminating the Empire State Building pink with supermodel and global ambassador Elizabeth Hurley or attending a black tie gala, for Bari, every last action she takes comes back to beating cancer. As with Lauren, the survivor, and Pamela, the fundraiser, Bari has an all-too personal cancer connection that drives her, too.

Last week in our breast health special report, we discovered the Angelina effect. This week, we’re looking at the link between the breast cancer awareness movement’s ubiquitous pink ribbon and better outcomes for women worldwide. “That piece of fabric has evolved into the international symbol of a disease that touches millions, with almost as many meanings and implications,” says Dr. Sharon Mass, OBGYN and our exclusive medical correspondent. In a little over two decades, “it has galvanized communities, raised awareness and tremendous sums of money for research, and spurred more women to get life-saving mammograms,” she says.

Right this moment, in the interest of beating breast cancer, you can buy everything from bras (Wacoal has guaranteed a combined minimum donation of $250,000 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation this year) to blush, yogurt to office supplies. We couldn’t help but wonder where this mega-movement started. So, along with Dr. Mass, we went straight to the source: The Estée Lauder Companies.