Becky Haddad is a woman who prides herself on staying on top of things.
Which makes it next to impossible to execute a surprise like the one that Susan G. Komen Colorado had for her at the 2017 Pink Tie Affair.
Haddad, a 30-year breast cancer survivor who has worked tirelessly for Komen Colorado since its start 25 years ago, knew she would be receiving the chapter’s Ambassador Award at this gala chaired by Michelle Search. What she did not know, until she was called to the stage, was that it was being renamed in her honor.
She shook her head in disbelief as she made her way to the front of the room while the 650 guests who would help raise $375,000 for Komen Colorado’s research, education and outreach programs gave her a standing ovation.
Catching her breath, Haddad shared that “I’m a grassroots, in-the-trenches kind of girl, so this is a bit of a stretch for me. I do what I do not to get awards, but because there is no cure. And I plan to continue as long as I can walk, talk and make sense.”
In addition to her own battle with breast cancer, Haddad’s passion is fueled by the tragedy of having lost both her sister and daughter to the disease.
“Becky has been with us since Day One and has applied the same strength she used to fight her own experience with this disease to mobilizing communities in the fight for a cure,” said Sherry Delaney, who joined Toni Panetta in presenting the award. Delaney is the founder and program director of Celebrating Women’s Health; Panetta is the director of mission programs for Komen Colorado.
Among other things, Haddad has participated in the Global Breast Cancer Summit; founded a multicultural conference that has been replicated at Komen chapters throughout the nation, and has visited Budapest, Kosovo, Albania and Serbia to assess how cultural norms affect the way breast cancer is detected and treated.
Emcees Denise Plante and Gary Shapiro introduced the 2017 Pink Tie Guys, men whose lives have been touched by breast cancer: David Spector, director of Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise; Carlos Rausseo, news anchor for KDEN Telemundo Denver; Devon Bloom, chief operating officer at Invision Sally Jobe; Brian Gonzales, an assistant professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work; Chris Rapp, chief executive officer for Apex IT; Shawn Williamson, vice president/sales for Rogue Wave Software and executive director of the Thunder Baseball League; and Malik Robinson, executive director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.
Those attending this dinner-dance held at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center included Komen Colorado board chair Lauren Schwartz; the chapter’s interim chief executive officer, Cindy Bolin, who is a three-year breast cancer survivor; Bob Shaw and Romita Wadwa, president of individual markets and legal department director, respectively, for Great-West Financial, presenting sponsor of the Pink Tie Affair; Tamra Ward, chief external relations officer for the Denver Zoo and a Komen Colorado board member; her fiance, Dustin Whistler, a principal with Forte Commercial Real Estate; Dr. Larry Chan; Sarah Marks and hubby Mike Ferrufino, the president/CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Komen Colorado board; KBNO Radio owner Zee Ferrufino; Lloyd Lewis, chief executive at arc Thrift of Colorado and his wife, Claire; Angie Austin and husband Mark Breen (she’s the host of the “Daybreak USA” and “The Good News with Angie Austin” radio shows); Tiffany Grunert, vice president/external relations at the Denver Zoo; and Jim Guttau, public relations director for the Four Seasons Hotel Denver, who was attending in honor of his grandmother, a three-time breast cancer survivor.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, partiwriter@hotmail.com and @joannedavidson on Twitter
