Deborah Q. Belfatto is a Founder of the North Jersey Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. A twenty-two year breast cancer survivor, Deb co-founded the Affiliate in 1997 on the promise to “make a difference” to a ten-year-old girl who lost her mother to breast cancer. Under her leadership and guidance, the Affiliate has grown from a small organization operating from the basement of her home to an office in Summit, NJ with a staff of ten and hundreds of volunteers.

Kathleen Hubert-McKenna is the Co-Founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, North Jersey Affiliate, and an active volunteer in changing the face of health care for causes that are personal and important to her. She played a key role in the establishment of the Affiliate in 1996, as a member of the organizing committee, and then in developing the infrastructure and organization of North Jersey. The Affiliate has become a driving force throughout its nine county service area as the primary source of funding to breast health and breast cancer organizations. During this time, she also served as a member of the Management Team, which helps to set and implement the strategic direction of the Affiliate and implement its key initiatives.

One of the 3 co-founders of the Komen North Jersey Affiliate, Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989. She lost her mother to breast cancer in 1978. Lisa says that “knowing what it is like to go through the fear, treatment and recovery of breast cancer, as well as knowing what it is like to lose a Mom to breast cancer, I knew we needed to do something to help find a cure.” Lisa and Deb met almost twenty years before the founding of Komen as fellow commuters to New York City from Essex County. Lisa moved to the west coast for several years, and back to New Jersey in 1995. In 1996 Deb, Kathy and Lisa started talking about starting “some type of organization” in New Jersey for breast cancer – and decided to become part of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.