Prominent Community Leaders Join Susan G. Komen Orange County 2014-2015 Board of Directors

COSTA MESA, March 26, 2014 (Press-News.org) Susan G. Komen Orange County has announced its 2014-2015 board of directors, which includes the additions of two new Orange County community leaders. Joseph Stein, owner and founder of Simply Innovate LLC, and Dr. Robina Smith, breast cancer surgeon at St. Jude Medical Center, join the nonprofit's existing team of esteemed advocates. The board of directors will guide the organization's initiatives this year, aimed at raising critical funds and providing life-saving breast cancer diagnostic and treatment services to Orange County residents.

"Joseph and Robina's unwavering support of Komen initiatives, coupled with their personal experiences with breast cancer, make them excellent contributors to our inspired board of directors," said Komen Orange County executive director Lisa Wolter. "Our ongoing commitment to providing accessible breast health services in Orange County has introduced us to so many volunteers who are so deeply invested. We continue to be inspired by their dedication."

Smith and Stein both have impressive professional backgrounds and personal dedication to the cause rooted in their personal experiences with breast cancer:

• Stein, who draws inspiration from his mother's and sister's battles with breast cancer, and the advances being made to combat the disease, funded in part by Komen, joins the board of directors with a personal mission: to ensure that no child will have to grow up without a mother because of breast cancer. He is the author of Top-Down & Bottom-Up Innovation and the co-founder of R&J Restaurants, which will see its Blaze Pizza franchise spread to Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the coming months.

• Smith has channeled her passion for breast cancer advocacy into a career in which she is able to directly affect people suffering from the disease. In addition to her surgical work at St. Jude Medical Center, she is also the founder of Treasure Your Chest LLC, a nonprofit aimed at increasing awareness and education about breast cancer within the African American community.

Stein and Smith join an existing board comprised of individuals who have successfully spearheaded year-round initiatives in 2013-2014, including localized breast health outreach, low- or no-cost mammograms as well as major fundraising events such as the Pink Tie Ball and Race for the Cure .

Komen Orange County's 2014-2015 board, effective April 1, includes:

• Lynn Jolliffe, Executive VP Human Resources, Ingram Micro, Inc. (President)
• Gretchen Valentine, Partner, McGladrey LLP (Treasurer)
• Carrie Swanson, Executive Director, Employees Community Fund of Boeing California (Secretary)
• Regino Diaz, Senior Vice President, Bank of America
• Lisa E. Guerra, MD, Hoag Hospital
• Dennis Kuhl, President, Angels of Anaheim, and 2008 Pink Tie Guy
• Doug McKay, Operations Manager, Macy's
• Sora Park Tanjasiri, Ph.D., MPH, California State University, Fullerton
• Sol Reyes Roberts, Retired RN, Latina Nurses Association
• Lynn Salo, Vice President, Plastic Surgery, Allergan Medical
• Robina Smith, MD, St. Jude Breast Surgery
• Joseph Stein, Owner and Founder, Simply Innovate LLC
• Judie Vivian, Founder, Standup for the Cure

About Susan G. Komen
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Suzy, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer. Today, Susan G. Komen works to end breast cancer in the U.S. and throughout the world by investing more than $750 million in breast cancer research and $1.5 billion in community outreach programs over the past 30 years; providing funding to help low-income and uninsured women get screened and get treatment; advocating for cancer research and outreach programs; and working globally in more than 30 countries. Visit komen.org. Connect on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on Susan G. Komen Orange County, please visit http://www.komenoc.org or call 714-957-9157.