Bee Cave-area resident Karen Shultz serves as interim executive director of Susan G. Komen Austin. She was appointed to the position in November 2014.
A native of California who launched her career in Silicon Valley, Shultz has spent 25 years in Austin directing the marketing and sales programs for technology companies. As interim executive director, Shultz is steering Komen Austin through its 17th Race for the Cure on Nov. 15.
How did you get involved with Komen Austin?
I started out [volunteering with Komen Austin] through a friend who asked me to join her race team. It was probably six or eight years ago. I sat on the board [of trustees] for a little over two years, and then the board asked me if I would step in. My connection with Komen was personal before because of friends I lost [because of breast cancer] and friends going through it, but then it became a real family issue. Libby, my husband’s daughter-in-law, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 43. She lost that battle at 47.
Any surprises in your transition from volunteer to staff?
I’ve been [involved] in for-profit businesses and startups and big companies. But now I have a really great appreciation for what it takes to manage a lot of different facets [of a nonprofit]. You’ve got so many constituents—board members, staff, donors, supporters, volunteers, community partners, [and] community health partners. It is a complex job. It’s really interesting to me that our largest fundraiser is managed primarily by volunteers. It’s been a real learning experience—how to be a part of that, manage it, not step on people’s toes and appreciate the work that they do. We have a lot of longtime volunteers who are very dedicated to the organization, to the race, to the cause. Most of them have a very personal interest in this disease, which is what brings people to any cause, really.
There are 111 Komen affiliates throughout the world. Does every local affiliate have the same mission?
We all have the same mission—to end breast cancer. But, each affiliate is its own 501 (c)(3), so we operate independently, with our own bylaws, board of directors [and] staff. We each have our local mission, or vision. For us, we’re trying to ‘Save lives locally [and] fight breast cancer globally.’
Why is Komen’s mission important to Austin?
If we weren’t here granting out this money, I don’t know where the money would come from to allow these organizations to serve the uninsured and underinsured. It could be you—working for yourself—and you don’t have insurance. You get breast cancer and say, ‘What the heck am I going to do?’ [Komen Austin] provides immediate access to care. When you have cancer, you want help today. That’s really important to us. The sooner you can deal with the cancer, the better your chances for surviving it.
Do you have a fundraising goal for this year’s Race for the Cure?
We do. Last year we raised just over a million dollars and we are targeting the same results this year. We have such a strong mission and a strong brand. We’re the only local organization that attacks breast cancer on all fronts. We put $11 million back into this community and over $5 million into research. Over the last six years, we have provided 63,000 breast health services.
It’s important for people to know that 75 percent of the money we raise stays locally [and] 25 percent goes to research. Of that [25 percent], 50 percent goes to metastatic breast cancer research, which is critical because 30 percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer are likely to get breast cancer again down the road.
