Susan G. Komen for the Cure Launches Circle of Promise Campaign

National Campaign to Engage African American Women Leaders, Community to Prevent Higher Breast Cancer Death Rate among Black Women

DALLAS - October 1, 2007—African American women are dying from breast cancer at a significantly higher rate than other women, despite a lower cancer incidence rate, and it must stop. Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is launching its Circle of Promise, an unprecedented campaign to engage women in the African American community to help end breast cancer forever by educating and empowering themselves and other black women to take actions that will save lives.

Thanks to improvements in early detection and treatment, breast cancer deaths among all women have steadily declined since 1991. However, African American women still have a higher breast cancer death rate than white women. While 90 percent of white women diagnosed with breast cancer survive for at least five years, only 77 percent of black women survive for that long.

Circle of Promise will be co-chaired by René Syler, author and former CBS Early Morning Show anchor, and Alexine Jackson, Komen Board Member and noted leader in the African American community. They will be joined by a dynamic group of celebrity, business, community, healthcare, social and faith leaders.

Educating and empowering African American women
"In the past 25 years, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has changed the world, engaging millions of people in the breast cancer movement by educating and empowering them to take charge of their health," said Syler. "Yet, breast cancer remains the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths among African American women. Because of my strong personal tie to breast cancer, I'm committed to doing everything I can do to save lives from breast cancer in the black community. I am honored to co-chair the Circle of Promise campaign - a platform that will educate millions more African American women about breast cancer and give them easy actions to start saving lives now."

The Circle of Promise campaign encourages black women to make a promise to take control of their health and to invite other women to do the same. It has three main goals:

• Get the word out about breast cancer's impact on the African American community and how early detection and treatment can have a life-saving outcome.
• Give African American women the opportunity to get involved in the global breast cancer movement by joining the Circle of Promise and serving as ambassadors within their local communities.
• Foster relationships within the African American community that will help increase financial support for breast cancer research and additional community-related programs.

Circle of Promise online community
The heart and soul of the campaign will be its online community. Registering through the interactive site will be the first step one has to take in making the promise to become an ambassador for the Circle of Promise and encouraging other women to do the same. In addition to providing tools for users to invite others to make their promise, the site will provide visitors Circle of Promise campaign updates, serve as a resource to educate African American women about early detection and treatment of the disease, highlight upcoming public policy efforts, and provide options for visitors to donate or host an event to help raise funds to find the cures.

ESSENCE Magazine and Warriors in Pink
Komen has joined forces with ESSENCE Magazine and Ford Motor Company's Warriors in Pink in a goal to recruit 100,000 African American women to serve as local ambassadors to join the Circle of Promise. Ambassadors will be charged with encouraging other women to get involved in the breast cancer movement, supporting public policy efforts to provide more women access to the health care they need; spreading the word about breast cancer awareness and the vital need for early detection and treatment; and raising funds for research and community programming.

After 36 years of delivering cutting edge information on health, relationships, finance, careers, fashion and beauty to African American women, ESSENCE has joined Komen to help end breast cancer by empowering African American women.

"ESSENCE is proud to be a partner of the Circle of Promise campaign and is committed to helping generate awareness and support for this important cause," said Angela Burt-Murray, editor-in-chief, ESSENCE magazine. "Our involvement as a champion of regular screening and early detection is a strong example of the brand's interest in improving the lives of African American women."

Ford has been a dedicated sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® Series for the last 13 years and has dedicated $90 million to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The Circle of Promise gives Ford's Warriors in Pink program a greater presence in the African American community.

"We are honored to join with Komen on this new initiative to more deeply engage African American women in the fight for a cure," said Crystal Greene, sponsorship and alliances manager for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. "We want all women, regardless of color, to become Warriors in Pink in order to help save as many lives as possible."

The Links
The Circle of Promise campaign will also be supported by The Links, Incorporated, an international, not-for-profit organization of nearly 12,000 professional women of color in 273 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia and three countries. The Links, Incorporated will promote Circle of Promise to local communities by working with Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliates and the Komen on the Go™ mobile trailer. They will mobilize to reach and teach African American communities about proper breast health care in an effort to eliminate the disproportionate number of lives lost to breast cancer.