Published: 05-30-08
Washington D.C. (May 29 2008)— The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (“NCCS”) the nation’s oldest survivor-led cancer advocacy organization today announced that Cathy Bonner of Austin Texas will become its next President & CEO effective August 1 2008.
Ms. Bonner will succeed long-time NCCS President & CEO Ellen Stovall who will continue to serve as a senior advisor to the organization.
“Over the last 17 years Ellen Stovall has created a legacy of leadership in championing the interests of cancer survivors” said Robert Sachs Chairman of the NCCS Board of Directors.
“In selecting Cathy Bonner to lead NCCS we have found a CEO entrepreneur and cancer activist with an outstanding record of accomplishment in the public and private sectors. We are thrilled to have someone of Cathy Bonner’s outstanding talents and skills serve as a national voice for cancer survivors and guide NCCS going forward” Sachs said.
“Cathy is a visionary leader who dreams big and knows how to make things happen” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). “We have worked together for over thirty years on initiatives and legislation to improve people’s lives. I look forward to working with Cathy as she brings her talents and skills to the front lines of the war on cancer at the national level.”
A cancer survivor marketing entrepreneur and former Executive Director of the Texas Department of Commerce Bonner founded KillCancer.org and in 2007 successfully led a coalition through the Texas Legislature and Proposition 15 ballot initiative to establish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas funded by $3 billion in state bonds. The Institute will fund its first $300 million in grants in 2009. Bonner was also a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and in 1997 helped Mr. Armstrong create his educational foundation for the prevention and treatment of testicular cancer. She currently serves on the Austin Affiliate Board of Directors for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Bonner is also the founder of the nation’s only comprehensive women’s history museum The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future in association with the Smithsonian Institution. She raised over $32 million to build this nationally acclaimed museum which opened in September 2000 in Dallas’s Fair Park.
As Executive Director of the Texas Department of Commerce under Governor Ann Richards from 1991-94 Bonner led the state’s economic development foreign trade offices and workforce development efforts resulting in more jobs created in the U.S. for three years in a row.
From 1981-1990 and 1995 to the present Bonner has been President & CEO of Bonner Incorporated a marketing consulting firm specializing in strategic planning advertising public relations and direct response campaigns. Her award-winning advertising campaigns have created more than $20 billion in assets for fourteen state-supported 529 college savings programs.
In March 2001 Fortune Magazine named Bonner one of the 25 most influential entrepreneurs in America saying she is “smart gutsy and innovative—as interested in making a difference as in making money.”
“I am excited and honored to join this effective and inspiring organization that benefits so many people” said Bonner. “With nearly 12 million cancer survivors living in the U.S. today NCCS’s work is critical and I look forward to guiding the organization toward the accomplishment of its mission to improve cancer care for all Americans.”
NCCS chose Bonner following a nine-month nationwide search conducted by the Isaacson Miller executive search firm. The NCCS search committee was chaired by NCCS Director and former Board Chair Dr. Catherine Harvey.
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) is the oldest survivor-led advocacy organization in the country advocating for quality cancer care for all Americans and empowering cancer survivors to advocate for themselves. For more information about NCCS and its advocacy for quality cancer care please visit www.canceradvocacy.org or call 1.888.650.9127.
