The Breast Cancer Research Foundation hosted its annual Symposium & Awards Luncheon on Thursday at the Hilton Midtown in New York City. During the ceremony, BCRF honored the late Leonard Lauder with The Sandra Taub Humanitarian Award. The organization has also launched a fund in his honor.
To kick off the event, host and actress Julianna Margulies welcomed guests, sponsors and the 260 researchers in attendance. Afterward BCRF president and chief executive officer Donna McKay outlined all the work BCRF has spearheaded, including a possible breast cancer vaccine for both treatment and prevention, new FDA-approved drugs, AI-powered diagnosis and more.
Throughout the event, every speaker and attendee spoke of Leonard Lauder and his impact on BCRF, founded by the late Evelyn Lauder. Dee and Tommy Hilfiger, in particular, spoke of his commitment to the organization when they presented the award to his son, William Lauder. Tommy Hilfiger discussed working alongside Leonard Lauder when he first signed the licensing deal for his fragrances, which were originally with The Estée Lauder Cos.
“He was like a father figure to me. He taught me to always weigh the risks and the rewards in any situation in business,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “Leonard, thank you for showing us it is possible that a Depression-era kid who made pocket money running errands and making deliveries for his parents’ small cosmetics business could become the master of the universe.”
Dee Hilfiger, who served on the BCRF board of directors alongside Leonard Lauder, added: “He had big, beautiful dreams for this organization, and he would be thrilled at the progress we continue to make together.”
William Lauder took the stage to accept the award on behalf of his father.
“He believed in supporting the fight against breast cancer, sharing my mother’s vision of a world with less breast cancer and more pink. October was always his favorite time, marked by his signature pink shirts, pink ties and pink pocket squares,” he said. “It means so much to our family to know that his spirit and legacy touch others’ lives as deeply as he touched ours. May we all follow in his giant footsteps and be inspired to pursue goodness and greatness in all of our endeavors. As my mother used to say, let’s put breast cancer out of business.”
During the event, chief executive officer and founder of the Lydia Fenet Agency Lydia Fenet also took to the stage to kick off a call to action for attendees to donate.
“One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Together in this room, we can change the odds and the outcome,” she said. “There’s hope, and the researchers are the ones who are in this room who are going to do it. In order to extend more lives, to save more lives, we need your help to be the end of breast cancer once and for all.”
Fenet passed the mic to William Lauder’s granddaughter Eliana Lauder and longtime BCRF supporter Roslyn “Roz” Goldstein, who discussed the importance of the cause.
“The legacy that my grandfather made was to show up in a space like this and to be possessed by the moment and to be impulsively generous,” Eliana Lauder said.
Throughout the remainder of the event, many sent in pledges via text, which were presented on the screen, showcasing messages of memory and honor of survivors and those lost to breast cancer.
The event concluded with the presentation of The Jill Rose Award for Scientific Excellence to Dr. Robert H. Vonderheide, as well as the presentation of the research grant awards to over 260 BCRF researchers.
At the end of the event, McKay shared that the organization had raised over $4 million during the course of the lunch, after which she said, “Thank you Leonard.”
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