Susan G. Komen® Announces Grammy Award Winning Artist, Monica, As Ambassador For Health Equity; “Know Your History, Know Your Risk” Campaign

The Songstress Will Share Key Breast Health Information Across Her Platforms

Susan G. Komen^®, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, today announced that Grammy award winning artist, Monica, and her nonprofit, The BeHUMAN Foundation, has agreed to partner with the organization as an ambassador focused on Komen’s work to achieve health equity for Black women. 

Komen’s partnership with Monica will initially focus on a new resource the organization is launching in honor of Black History Month – “Know Your History, Know Your Risk,” a campaign that seeks to help empower Black women to take charge of their breast health and inspire meaningful conversations with family, friends and health care providers about their breast cancer risk. Future efforts will include additional community outreach initiatives and fundraising to support Komen’s health equity work. Monica also supported Komen this past October, lending her vocals to the hit song PINK, an all-star collaboration also featuring Dolly Parton, Jordin Sparks, Rita Wilson and Sara Evans.

“I am excited to join with Susan G. Komen on this campaign and to work towards achieving health equity in our health care system,” said Monica. “While we can’t control whether we develop breast cancer, working together we can change what happens if we are diagnosed. It starts with knowing your family history and breast cancer risks.”

“Know Your History, Know Your Risk” is an integrated, multi-channel campaign to provide Black women with information they need to understand and take charge of their breast health. It includes trustworthy information regarding breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment; tools to understand risks and family history; guidance for genetic testing; and questions to ask your doctor. 

“We are thrilled to partner with Monica and The BeHUMAN Foundation on this critically important effort,” said Paula Schneider, Komen’s President and CEO. “Black women face a trifecta of issues that negatively affect their breast cancer outcomes. Together, we can change this.”

Black women are often diagnosed at a younger age, at a more advanced stage and with a more aggressive, harder to treat subtype of breast cancer. Combined with systemic issues that serve as barriers to care, Black women are about 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Komen believes that addressing the systemic and underlying causes of health inequity in our country is a social imperative. In order to ensure Black women have equal access to timely, high-quality risk assessment, screening, diagnostic and treatment services, we provide resources that support and empower people to understand their family history and breast cancer risk. 

Visit komen.org/knowyourhistory to access resources and information to learn more about how one’s family health history may impact a person’s risk of developing breast cancer.