In 1989, Evelyn H. Lauder joined the Board of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and led a fundraising drive to establish the first-ever comprehensive breast and diagnostic center.  The Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center filled a void within the health care community and finally allowed women to take care of all of their breast health needs under one roof.  As women from all over the world began coming to the Center to seek help, Mrs. Lauder realized that more had to be done to raise awareness about breast cancer and to raise funds to find a cure.

In 1992, Mrs. Lauder initiated The Estée Lauder Companies' Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign with a mission of reaching as many women as possible with the message that early detection saves lives.  That same year, Mrs. Lauder and Alexandra Penney, then editor of SELF magazine, created the Pink Ribbon as a symbol of breast health and the Company began publicizing the symbol by distributing Pink Ribbons at its cosmetic counters around the world.  Since then, the Pink Ribbon has become a ubiquitous symbol and to date, the Company had cumulatively distributed more than 75 million Pink Ribbons and informational brochures worldwide.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder as an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical and genetic research. The Foundation supports scientists at top universities and academic medical centers worldwide conducting the most advanced and promising breast cancer research that will lead to prevention and a cure in our lifetime. A minimum of 85 cents of each dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to breast cancer research and awareness programs. In October 2007, $32 million will be awarded to 151 scientists across the United States and in Canada, Latin America, the Middle East, and throughout Europe. Money magazine named BCRF one of America’s eight top charities. And for the sixth consecutive year, BCRF received Charity Navigator’s highest rating, four stars, thus outperforming over 99% of the evaluated charities.

Now in its fifteenth year, The Estée Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign continues its global fight to raise awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research, and it will continue on until breast cancer becomes a thing of the past.  Toward that end, the Campaign has encouraged governments to dedicate a day, week or the month of October to Breast Cancer Awareness, enlisted support from the world’s First Ladies, and facilitated global press coverage on the importance of early detection and treatment that reached over 1.6 billion people in 2006, and even more in 2007.

In addition, the Estée Lauder Companies continues to be the largest corporate sponsor of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  In 2007, 15 of The Estée Lauder Companies’ brands sold Pink Ribbon Beauty Products during October (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month), with a portion of the proceeds from sales going to the BCRF. In addition, the Estée Lauder Companies donated proceeds from a range of employee-driven fundraising events to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, as well as other breast cancer charities around the world (see Brand Participation for a full list of products from 2007).