BRAVE COALITION FOUNDATION
Breast Restoration AdVocacy and Education (BRAVE)
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
According to the CDC, overall breast cancer screenings dropped 88% in urban areas & 89% in rural areas compared to the five-year averages.The 2020 pandemic discouraged those already geographically or financially isolated from receiving early breast cancer screening or in some cases screening at all. Underserved individuals, if diagnosed with breast cancer, may be in an advanced stage when detected requiring more invasive approaches to their therapy. Of the one out of eight women diagnosed with breast cancer each year,70% of women who undergo disfiguring surgery to treat cancer are NOT informed of their restoration options & fewer than 30% of women who are educated about restorative options elect to undergo some form of restorative surgery that rebuilds the breast. The Women’s Health & Cancer Rights Act of 1998 requires insurers to cover restorative surgery if the surgery to remove a portion or entire breast & surgery that has been prescribed to the opposite breast to achieve symmetry.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
BRAVE Day March 21st, Annually
Breast Restoration AdVocacy & Education(BRAVE) Day is a National Day to recognize the rights and choices women have for prevention, treatment and recovery from breast cancer for complete restoration. The sole purpose of BRAVE Day is to educate women about their options for reconstruction however they choose. To truly thrive after being diagnosed with breast cancer, women need to know their rights, the resources that are available to them, ―and how to access them. Self-empowerment and knowing your rights can make all the difference in a healthy, successful recovery.
BRAVE Community Outreach Health Fairs & Clinics
Women empowered to know their rights for Breast Restoration, however they choose.
Funding Surgical Breast Restoration
BRAVE financially supports medical procedures not covered by medical insurance & non-medical expenses associated with breast reconstruction after mastectomy due to breast cancer.
Where we work
External reviews
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Racial Healthcare Disparities Focus. Within 12 months of being funded, BRAVE will identify four targeted market/regions providing and maintaining breast cancer restoration resources in all approved urban & rural healthcare centers/hospitals.
General Program Focus. Our goal is to increase our ambassador, surgeon, tattoo experts and financial support by 20% over the next 12 months.
Distributed Resources. Educational literature defining breast restoration rights; ways to obtain financial and emotional support;
Educational Events. BRAVE will publish two - four informative webinars featuring BRAVE ambassadors, BRAVE Surgeons and key stakeholders in a breast cancer survivor's ongoing rehabilitation journey. In these forums, we will discuss obstacles and gaps in care and emotional, spiritual and physical health of the survivor and her support team (i.e., family, friends, spouse, children etc.) and place a heavy emphasis on racial disparities in healthcare while providing accessible solutions.
Identify ten (10) - fifteen (15) uninsured individuals that are interested in breast restoration. Sixty six percent-75% of those individuals will have experienced legitimate racial disparities in their healthcare. BRAVE will coordinate with each BRAVE Surgeon, utilize donated elements and financially supplementing while covering basic living and miscellaneous expenses for women who cannot work for the three weeks of recovery post surgery.
Public Relations. BRAVE will execute a well planned and deliberate public relations strategy with the goal of raising awareness and financial support for our general program support and specifically to fill gaps for racial disparities within breast reconstruction.
Mentorship. Ensure every program participant is made aware of BRAVE's Ambassador program and has the opportunity to participate when she is ready.
BRAVE's operations team will report to the board quarterly ensuring help needed, obstacles and/or milestones are reported timely. After the first 12 months, both BRAVE's Diversity Program and our General Program will be evaluated. At this time (or sooner if changes are objectively justified and approved by leadership), we will make required adjustments to ensure the programs remains relevant and are making an appropriate impact on those we serve.
If our program is within .05 of our originally set goals, we will work with our rural and urban locations to identify additional areas of improvement. If we are >.05 of our originally established goals, we will identify the gaps and develop a plan to address (i.e. ensure we identify additional individuals or areas for BRAVE to provide support)
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
When BRAVE was founded back in 2012, we could have never predicted we would still be operating because The Act of 1998 still wasn't resolved but here we are with the same women's rights issues and lack of access to basic healthcare for breast cancer survivors' restoration procedures.
While there is great focus on research for treatments & cures and communication on every platform raising awareness of the importance of early detection screening, a gap remains for those individuals that are diagnosed with breast cancer and end up receiving a mastectomy.
Even in 2021, only half of this demographic is offered restorative options and less than 25% understand current legislations & their restorative options with clarity. There are many options with restoration being one of them. BRAVE Coalition Foundation was founded to help women restore what breast cancer may have stolen and to ensure women have access to the tools to make informed decisions. We want every breast cancer survivor to have the choice and opportunity of breast restoration.
BRAVE struggled during COVID 19 in 2020 and even into 2021 like most all organizations have. During 2020 and as we started the engines up again in 2021, BRAVE has developed a two year strategy including robust operations, marketing and communications and development plans to support scalability growth and sustainability.
Our development strategy includes corporate sponsorships, grants, and private donations in addition to a long standing and expanding network throughout the nation. We are diligently working to not only continue to lean on our existing support network but to also diversify our network with organizations and corporations that have generously supported us in the past to ensure we always pass the IRS's Public Support Test.
BRAVE's program strategy has mechanisms for monitoring & evaluation; clear metrics to success, and expected outcomes. Our operational focus has been on doing business smart increasing efficiencies and effectiveness in all we do by streamlining & documenting all systems and processes.
BRAVE's board is one of the most skilled, networked & passionate nonprofit boards reaching out to their networks continue to fundraise and friendraise in addition to personally contributing their time, talent and treasure.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Capabilities include: a growing national network of surgeons, ambassadors, partner organizations; past performance for grants; fully skilled, capable and committed board of directors; recently streamlined operations and completion of organizational and programs assessments.
Our development strategy includes corporate sponsorships, grants, and private donations in addition to a long standing and expanding network throughout the nation. We are diligently working to not only continue to lean on our existing support network but to also diversify our network with organizations and corporations that have generously supported us in the past to ensure we always pass the IRS's Public Support Test..BRAVE's program strategy has mechanisms for monitoring & evaluation; clear metrics to success, and expected outcomes. Our operational focus has been on doing business smart increasing efficiencies and effectiveness in all we do by streamlining & documenting all systems and processes.
BRAVE's board is one of the most skilled, networked & passionate nonprofit boards reaching out to their networks continue to fundraise and friendraise in addition to personally contributing their time, talent and treasure.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
New Region Identification. Not only identify but successfully, establish relationships in five new targeted underserved regions and ensure all medical facilities are stocked with educational information regarding their restoration rights, resources and how to obtain resources.
Education. Number of participants attending webinars, conferences, panels and events. Through BRAVE's webinars, conferences, panels, blogs and printed literature, BRAVE will touch minimum 500 -1000 breast restoration candidates, patients and family members.
Statistical Analysis. Increase number of unique visitors each month to our new website. We have averaged 200 visitors per month over the past six months and aim to reach 3,000 visitors per month by the end of the grant period.
Mobile App. Increase consumer traffic to the BRAVE mobile app measured by the number of downloads of the app each month and the number of individual areas of use for each specific category. Gauge the usefulness of the app to users by the number of users; number of users find physician and hospital information via the app; number of views of women's rights information and options for breast reconstruction, and number of users that connect to support groups through the app.
Restoration Procedures. Identify ten(10) - fifteen (15) individuals that are interested in breast restoration (breast restoration for mastectomy) and are experiencing legitimate disparities in their healthcare.
Connections. Brave will ensure 100% of our program recipients are connected with a BRAVE surgeon and other professionals to ensure they, are at the very least, aware and understand their rights, options and how to access resources to pursue and receive the option that is best for them.
Mentorship. All program participants will be offered mentorship via BRAVE's ambassador program.
Revenue Generation Metrics. Build cash reserves for no less than one year of sustainability in preparation of a global or national catastrophe occurring.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
BRAVE COALITION FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 08/26/2021
Christine Grogan
VP Marketing-KCI
Term: 2012 -
Zubin Meshginpoosh
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Clay Daniells
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Michael Schlamp
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John Gwin
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Mark Marino
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Raymer Kelly
Amazon
Kendra Wilkerson
Becton Dickson
Jann Rigell
Envolve Pharmacy Solutions
Ashley Libby Diaz
ALD Brand + Marketing Strategy
John Paul Singh Deol
Dhillon Law Group
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/24/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.