Komen Executives Depart in Controversy’s Wake

Several top regional and national officials with Susan G. Komen for the Cure are stepping down as the breast-cancer charity continues to struggle with the fallout from the Planned Parenthood controversy, writes The Washington Post. And the group’s founder, Nancy Brinker, is coming under increased pressure to leave her post in the wake of the resignations, says The New York Times.

The departing leaders of Komen’s Greater New York and Oregon affiliates were outspoken critics of the national organization’s decision, which it later rescinded, to end grants to Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings. In addition, three executives at the foundation’s national headquarters in Dallas have recently exited or announced plans to leave in the coming months.

Seeking to quell local chapters’ concerns, Komen officials said the charity is implementing structural changes to give affiliates a greater say on policy matters. A source familiar with the charity’s budget process told the Post that Komen is reviewing budgets for the fiscal year starting April 1 amid concern that revenue will decline.

The charity issued a public statement that Komen’s board supported Ms. Brinker.

Dig deeper: See a Chronicle opinion article from two former nonprofit leaders who say the Komen controversy’s lessons are about poor management, not cultural divisions over the group’s Planned Parenthood grants.