2012 Power List: Locals who made a difference this year

Michele Ostrander

Komen Foundation Denver Affiliate Director Michele Ostrander is honored for her willingness to speak up when Komen threatened to cut off funding for  breast cancer screenings for low-income women through Planned Parenthood.

As director of the Komen Foundation’s Denver affiliate, Michele Ostrander says her duty is to educate women on the importance of breast health.

“The best defense against breast cancer is to treat it early,” Ostrander said, noting that while late-stage breast cancer has a five-year survival rate of 23 percent, the same measure for breast cancer caught and treated early is 98 percent.

With that comes the importance of accessing care – a challenge that affects lesbians in particular because they may not receive medical benefits through their partners or know LGBT-competent doctors, Ostrander said.

Ostrander said low-income women can access early treatment through Komen’s breast health program through Planned Parenthood, which offers mammograms and diagnostics, and refers diagnoses to treatment.

Ostrander found her Denver organization at the heart of what would become a national controversy – last December, she and her colleagues learned Komen would announce plans to cut the program off.

“Our national office made the decision to effectively de-fund Planned Parenthood,” Ostrander said. “I went to our board of directors to say that wasn’t acceptable for our community.” Her local board agreed. “Locally, we had a good relationship with Planned Parenthood. We let Nancy Brinkler know that Planned Parenthood was an important access point for women in our community.”

They petitioned the national office for an exception for Denver – which they got – but that left out other affiliates and put Denver’s breast health program through Planned Parenthood at risk for future years.

Ostrander and her colleagues decided to go public with their concerns – at risk of losing their jobs. That didn’t stop them.

“We were putting our affiliation status on the line speaking out, and speaking out against the founder of the organization. We didn’t feel they had good reason [to de-fund Planned Parenthood] – they gave us a couple of different reasons, neither of which we felt were legitimate.”

When the news of Komen’s decision broke, it ignited a national political controversy and backlash from women’s health groups. Many of Komen’s donors withdrew. Under heavy criticism from within and outside the organization, Komen reversed its decision within days.

“I’m proud of the stance that Komen Denver took,” Ostrander said. “And I’m glad that stance is recognized by the community. I hope that being honored brings awareness to the importance of breast health.”