A Remarkable Woman: Evelyn Lauder
"I feel it's important to make a mark somewhere, I've always been a person who is driven."
Biography
Evelyn Hausner was born in 1938 in Vienna but grew up in New York City.
In 1958 she graduated from Northwestern University and worked as a public school teacher.
Shortly after she met her husband Leonard Lauder on a blind date the couple married in 1959.
Evelyn then left her job as a school teacher and went to work with her husband in Estee Lauder cosmetics which was a very small company founded by his mother.
In 1989 Evelyn discovered a lump and was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully the cancer was discovered in its early stages and successfully treated.
It was around this time that Evelyn decided to make her mark on the world.
Business Accomplishments
After starting off in a company that initially only sold six items, Evelyn came up with several ideas for products that are now considered staples of the Lauder Brand. Not only did she expand the range, but she also formed a further four Lauder companies; Clinique, Origins, Prescriptives and Armani’s and she is now the senior Corporative Vice President for Estee Lauder Cosmetics.
One of Evelyn’s biggest accomplishments however is the formation of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The foundation was recognized as the first and largest national organization solely dedicated to funding research of the causes, treatment and prevention of breast cancer.
Together with Alexandra Penny Evelyn also came up with the idea for the ‘Pink Ribbon’ which has now become the world wide symbol for breast cancer.
In 2007 Evelyn received the American Society of Clinical Oncologists Award for her lifetime commitment to breast cancer.
Charity Work
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- In 1988 Evelyn got involved in the “Look Good Feel better” program, which helps women with cancer cope with the physical side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy by providing makeup artists and hairstylists to demonstrate skin care, makeup and wig styling.
- A year later, she led her first fundraising event and raised more than $18 million for the Satellite Breast and Diagnostic Centre which was later named the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Centre. The centre became a worldwide model for offering coordinated supportive services for one disease under one roof.
- In 1993 Evelyn and Alexandra Penney created the ‘Pink Ribbon’ and organized the distribution of hundreds and thousands of Pink Ribbon’s and “Breast Self-Exam” instruction cards at all Estée Lauder counters across the United States.
- In 1993 all four Estée Lauder Companies introduced a “gift with pledge,” in which customers received a gift of a pink enamel pin in exchange for a minimum $10 donation “pledge” to BCRF. That alone raised almost $300,000.
- In 2000 Evelyn launched the ‘Global Landmarks Illumination Initiative’ and every October thousands of individuals, families, schools and businesses, from around the world focus on the impact of breast cancer by covering historic landmarks in pink lights and raising money. More than 200 historic landmarks in more than 40 countries have participated, including Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and the Tokyo Tower in Japan.
Now over 70 countries participate in The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and are united in the belief that if we join together as one voice, lives can be saved and a cure can be found in the not too distant future.
To date, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation has raised more than $250 million for translational research and awareness.
By Danielle Jawando
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