DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The three middle-aged women waiting for breast cancer treatment — just a few of the hundreds the Ocean Road Cancer Institute takes in each year — left Nancy Brinker visibly shaken.
Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said she couldn’t help but see in the women the face of her sister, Suzy. Her cancer death three decades ago inspired what has become the nation’s leading breast cancer fundraiser.
That memory remains a driving force for Brinker as she transitions from Komen CEO to chairwoman of global strategy. And 18 months after turmoil over a funding flap with Planned Parenthood, Brinker said that longer perspective has helped her and the charity move forward.
“We had a couple of tough years, but honestly, no year was as tough in my life as losing my sister,” she said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
Brinker traveled this week to Tanzania to participate in the George W. Bush Institute’s African First Ladies Summit. Dallas-based Komen is a partner in Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, the Bushes’ cancer-fighting initiative in Africa. And the charity plans to ramp up its global outreach.
Brinker, in the interview, again apologized for the funding tiff that is still being felt. Komen recently canceled some of its signature races because of a drop in donations.
The controversy started in early 2012 after Komen initially announced plans to end grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings. Komen and Brinker, targets of a public backlash, reversed course within a week.
While she said “a lot of mistakes were made,” she emphasized that at Komen, “we’re way beyond it.” She said the charity’s resulting self-evaluation has allowed it to emerge stronger than ever, with improved leadership and communication.
“You have to go through stuff every once in awhile,” she said. “We got to take a deep look at our organization and fix some of the things that weren’t working right.”
Brinker stressed that the decision wasn’t political, despite speculation inside Komen and out that it was made because Planned Parenthood provides abortion services.
She said she can’t “hide the fact that I served in a Republican administration,” but that she and Komen’s board never operate politically.
Instead, she said, a contentious political year — fueled by the presidential campaign — caused the decisions to be interpreted in a certain way.
Brinker’s move to Komen’s chairwoman of global strategy comes after a four-year stint as CEO.
Brinker, an ambassador to Hungary under President George W. Bush, said she had been planning a new role well before last year’s dustup. She said her new job, focused also on fundraising in the U.S., is a perfect fit.
“It’s what I like to do the most: being involved with development, messaging the right way about our work, telling and retelling and re-telling our stories,” she said.
Dr. Judy Salerno of the nonprofit Institute of Medicine in Washington was announced last month as Komen’s new CEO.
Brinker said Salerno has “exactly the skills we need” and predicted a strong partnership.
“She knows what I do well, and I know what she does well,” Brinker said.
Brinker’s visit to Tanzania for the African First Ladies Summit provided a glimpse of what the future could hold for both Komen and its founder.
As part of the African First Ladies Summit, Brinker toured the Ocean Road Cancer Institute, the only facility dedicated to the disease in this east African country of 48 million people.
The center each year sees more than 5,000 cancer patients, and about 10 percent have breast cancer. It has only two radiotherapy machines. While it tries to serve everyone, the waiting list can stretch up to six months.
Brinker visited with some of the patients the day before the official tour. She told them she had survived breast cancer and gave them bracelets that read “Cure.”
The three women who reminded Brinker of her sister — because they were so young — were all wearing the jewelry the next day.
As Brinker walked out of the hospital, she pointed to the crowd camped out in the hopes of soon getting admitted.
“I can’t even look,” she said, noting that the delay in treatment likely would cost some of their lives.
Dr. Twalib Ngoma, Ocean Road’s executive director, said the hospital has made huge strides in recent years. But he said he wants to build four more treatment centers and improve access to vaccinations and palliative care.
He estimated that dream would cost $105 million. Komen alone can’t make that happen, but Brinker said the charity could work with the government and other partners to start making an impact.
“We’re going to get it done,” she said. “But you have to build the infrastructure and build the will among the people.”
Komen started investing globally in 1998, and it’s now operating in about 30 countries. That activity totals several million dollars annually, officials said.
One of those efforts is Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, an $85 million partnership with Komen, the Bush Institute, the U.S. State Department and others targeting cervical and breast cancer in Africa.
The program so far has focused on cervical cancer because it’s a larger threat that’s easier to treat in the early stages. Brinker said breast cancer would soon become a bigger issue as women with HIV are living longer thanks to anti-retroviral drugs.
Among Komen’s Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon efforts so far: helping launch a cancer prevention alliance in Zambia; partnering with the drug company Merck to increase cancer awareness; and providing $200,000 to create a breast cancer training curriculum.
Komen’s push to provide more help internationally means trying to leverage its brand of pink ribbons and fundraising walks.
That brand, though, is what took the biggest hit from the Planned Parenthood funding dispute.
Recalling the incident, Brinker said it was “almost inexplicable.”
She said Komen simply was re-evaluating its grants, looking for more efficient options. In many cases, she said, Planned Parenthood didn’t directly provide breast cancer screenings, but referred women to other places to use Komen’s funding for the procedures.
“We want to always be fresh and take a look at stuff,” she said “But we were never going to end that cycle of grants.”
Asked about the genesis of the idea, Brinker said “there were lots of factors” and that “it wasn’t any one person.”
She said Komen has since put people in new roles, improved its social media and strengthened its relationship with its affiliates.
“For us, it’s a distant past,” Brinker said. “Everyone’s moved forward, and we’ve never stopped serving our public.”