There is a missing entry for Crisis Week 2: Susan G. Komen: Race for Good Reputation (part 1) that was written February 1, 2012 on another device. It will be posted soon.

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The Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation is still facing controversy due to their initial lack of responding, so the crisis continues.

Updates

– a scapegoat: VP of public policy Karen Handel

– the decision to end funding was reversed

– Planned Parenthood raised over $3 million in a few days due to outrage

With Susan G. Komen announcing today the resignation of Vice President Karen Handel, this crisis is falling into the typical steps with reputation restoration. Reports of Handel’s distaste for Planned Parenthood and anti-abortion views have been surfacing all day, as well as facts such as (1) she was hired after losing the race for Governor in Georgia, and (2) her personal Twitter account described the mass opposition as using the decision like a “political bomb” and telling followers to “cry me a freaking river.”

In regards to her response, it’s best for everyone that she resigned. Not only was her reply inappropriate but it shows a character that I’m sure Susan G. Komen would like to stray from- crisis or not.

An even bigger issue

Step one is out of the way, now the organization needs to build back trust. It’s hard to reconstruct a damaged relationship when there is not a unified reaction. The CEO and founder Nancy Brinker confirmed the policy was not mainly Handel’s idea. The better question is- well how did the policy develop? And again, what are the plans for future funding? These step-by-step reactions are causing Susan G. Komen to look unorganized and unable to handle the attention they’ve stirred up.

Let’s hope they get it together, and soon.