She left behind not only her loving sister and parents, but also a husband and two young children. In the last months of Susan's life, Brinker made a promise to her sister: she would dedicate the rest of her life to eradicating breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by advancing research, education, screening and treatment.

Brinker established the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982, with only a few hundred dollars of her own and a shoe box full of friends' names. Two short years later, she discovered her own breast cancer. Through Susan's experience, Brinker learned to take charge of her own health and sought the most advanced treatment options available.

The Race for the Cure was created in an effort to raise community awareness and funding for breast cancer education and scientific research. Today it is the world's largest 5K race series, with almost one million people participating in 109 cities nationwide. Since its inception, the Foundation has raised more than $225 million for breast cancer research, education, and screening treatment programs across the country. Brinker has taken an active political role and served on the Board of Directors of several organizations in support of cancer research.

As a result of her efforts, Brinker has expanded her role outside of the Komen Foundation in a legislative capacity, serving under three U.S. Presidents on the National Cancer Advisory Board, and testifying before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies in 2000. She has also testified before the United States Democratic Policy Committee's Congressional Breast Cancer Forum, participated in the International Women's Forum, and is a Collaborating Partner for the National Dialogue on Cancer.

In 2001, Brinker accepted President George W. Bush's nomination of Ambassador to Hungary, and her achievements there are equally impressive. She helped to preserve tax benefits and lower tariffs on U.S. companies doing business in Hungary. Brinker negotiated the hosting and training of the Free Iraqi Forces, an expatriate group who later joined coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom, making Hungary the first European country to contribute to regime change in Iraq. Her groundbreaking efforts to advance the cause of women's health in Hungary included a symposium and ceremonial walk across the country's oldest bridge (lit pink for the occasion) to raise breast cancer awareness.

Brinker is the recipient of numerous national awards including Ladies' Home Journal's "100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century," Biography magazine's "The 25 Most Powerful Women in America," the 1999 Caring Award, and the 2000 Cino del Duca Award. She was inducted into the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund, Inc., Cancer Survivors Hall of Fame, received the first Solomon Smith Barney Extraordinary Achievement Award, as well as the James Ewing Layman Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology, Albert Einstein's Sarnoff Volunteer Award, Ladies' Home Journal "Top 10 Champions of Women's Health," and many others.

Brinker's remarkable life story is a profound testament to the possibility within all of us to affect positive change in the world. At the podium, she shares her extraordinary journey from humble beginnings in Peoria, Illinois, to her philanthropic achievements in the fight against breast cancer, to her accomplished Ambassadorship in Eastern Europe. Her inspiring presentation reveals the power of hard work and perseverance in accomplishing the American dream. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she is author the bestseller The Race is Run One Step at a Time, as well as Winning the Race: Taking Charge of Breast Cancer; she also co-authored Woman's Day's 1000 Questions About Women's Health.