The Pink Tie Program features influential leaders who can help mobilize, energize and engage audiences in the breast cancer movement through their role within the community, within their organizations, and through their personal involvement. The Pink Tie Guys are leaders who attest to the powerful fact that breast cancer is a disease that knows no boundaries and who bring a male voice to the urgency of finding the cure(s). The Pink Tie Guys are partners in the Komen promise to live in a world without breast cancer. Learn more about the Program (pdf). Read Press Release.

Interested in getting your organization involved in the breast cancer movement? Learn how your company can become a Promise Action Champion.

Meet the Guys....

Gary S. Kaplan, M.D., FACP, FACMPE, FACPE 
Chairman and CEO, Virginia Mason Medical Center

Dr. Kaplan is a practicing Internal Medicine Physician and has served in his current capacity since 2000.

During Dr. Kaplan’s tenure as chairman and CEO, Virginia Mason has received significant national and international recognition for its efforts to transform health care, including "Top Hospital of the Decade" by The Leapfrog Group, 2011 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™, Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence and the 2011 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize®.

In addition to caring for patients and serving as chairman and CEO, Dr. Kaplan is a clinical professor at the University of Washington and has been recognized for his service and contribution to many regional and national boards. Dr. Kaplan is a founding member of Health CEOs for Health Reform and has been recognized nationally for his health care leadership.

Dr. Kaplan received his medical degree from the University of Michigan and is board certified in internal medicine.

“As a physician, I have experienced first-hand how breast cancer affects not just women who are my patients, but entire families and circles of friends. I can vividly recall the grandmother who was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it wasn’t too many years later that her daughter, or her granddaughter, or both, received the same difficult news. I will be wearing my Pink Tie for them, and all of the women who courageously battle this disease and look to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and others to find the breakthrough of a cure.”

Jerry Quinn Lee, AIA 
Chairman of the Board, MulvannyG2 Architecture

Jerry started his architecture career in 1975, working his way up from drafter to Chairman of the Board. His belief that hard work reaps great rewards complements his inexhaustible philanthropic approach to life. The firm’s community involvement is a direct result of Jerry’s enthusiasm and drive. Jerry has a long history of volunteerism in the Pacific Northwest, receiving the 2011 Gold Level Presidential Volunteer Service Award by The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He has also been named “Favorite Philanthropist” by the Seattle’s International Examiner. In 2008, he received the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure “Power of One” award, and in 2006, he received the Komen Puget Sound Affiliate C.J. Taylor award for “Outstanding Community Volunteer.”

Jerry serves on the Komen Puget Sound Advisory Council. He and his wife Charlene were the Honorees at the 2005 Komen benefit gala and he is a founding member of the Komen Puget Sound Circle of Grace. In addition to their work with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Jerry is actively supporting the Seattle Art Museum, the Martinez Foundation, the College Success Foundation and our senior community.

Steve Maxwell 
President, KeyBank South Puget Sound District

Steve joined KeyBank in Tacoma in 1993 and later became Senior Vice President of Corporate Banking in Oregon. Back in Tacoma now as President of the South Puget Sound District, he now is responsible for growing the client base in Consumer Banking, Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Private Banking, including Trust and Investment Management.

His community involvement includes board positions for Junior Achievement, University of Washington-Tacoma, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and Pierce County Economic Development.

He and his wife have a daughter and son.

Nate Miles 
Director of Government Affairs, Pacific Northwest Region, Lilly USA

Representing one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Nate oversees all public policy, government relations and community advocacy throughout multiple states in the region. Nate was selected by former President Bill Clinton to be a White House Conferee on International Trade, as well as being named one of Ebony Magazine’s “30 Leaders of the Future.” He received a Distinguished Service Award from the National Bar Association and, just recently, Nate received the prestigious Edward E. Carlson Award, named after the former Chairman of the Board of United Airlines and Westin Hotels and was voted one of Harvard Business School’s “Top 10 Business Leaders of All Time.”

Nate has been a major force in the community for over 25 years, including University of Washington Foundation Board, the National NAACP SCF Board of Trustees, the Puget Sound Regional Council, Association of Washington Business, Community Development Roundtable, Medical Teams International, Seattle Urban League, Overlake Hospital Foundation, Rainier Vista Boy’s and Girl’s Club and The Chinese Nursing Home.

Nate is a proud father and husband.

Tom Norwalk 
President and CEO, Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau

Tom Norwalk serves as President & CEO of Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, an economic development agency responsible for competitively marketing Seattle as a destination for meeting and convention groups and leisure travelers. Norwalk oversees more than 40 employees in the organization’s main Seattle office as well as sales offices in Washington, D.C. and Chicago and is responsible for all of the bureau’s operations, sales and marketing, business development and finance and budget management.

Norwalk is a hospitality veteran with extensive hotel and other travel industry experience, beginning his career with Westin Hotels in Seattle. He was the Director of Marketing of the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel from 1993 to 2001 and served concurrently at the Four Seasons corporate level as Regional Director of Hotel Marketing, where he oversaw ten properties in the Western U.S. and Hawaii. He has also served as President of Seattle Hospitality Group, LLC and as General Manager of The Golf Club at Newcastle.

Chris E. Rivera 
President, Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association

Chris has been the WBBA President since January 2009. During his tenure, he has developed the WBBA’s strategic direction to support the growth of life sciences in Washington state, including co-founding WINGS – Washington’s Medical Technology angel network, expanding the WBBA’s commercialization program designed to mentor entrepreneurs in business development and corporate strategy, and rebranding Life Science Innovation Northwest into the largest and fastest growing international life science conference held in Seattle annually. In addition, Mr. Rivera has been appointed to several leadership positions, including; the Governor’s Higher Education Task Force, the Washington Global Health Funding Commission, the Prosperity Partnership’s Regional Economic Strategy Technical Advisory Group, and Chairman for the national Council of State Bioscience Associations.

When asked about his support for Komen Puget Sound, Chris replied, “This is a very important cause for me personally and professionally. My mother and mother-in-law both succumbed to breast cancer. My wife is a survivor, and my sister-in-law is currently battling the disease. I am honored to be the President of the WBBA, as well as a Pink Tie Guy! They are both phenomenal organizations that are supporting members working on a cure for this terrible disease.”

Chris and his wife enjoy raising their two children and many foster cats.

Lorenzo Romar 
Head Coach of Men’s Basketball, University of Washington

With nine years leading the Huskies Men’s Basketball Team, Lorenzo has earned the distinction of being the Pac-10 Conference’s longest tenured coach and will continue doing so for another 10 years after signing a contract extension in 2010. Under Lorenzo’s direction, Huskies have experienced their greatest stretch of success in team history, including six NCAA tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s, three Pac-10 tournament championships and one regular season Pac-10 title. Most recently, Lorenzo led the Huskies to their third-straight NCAA appearance in 2011, won a second consecutive Pac-10 Tournament Championship and produced two members of the All-Pac-10 team (Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning). Lorenzo ranks third among all-time UW coaches with 195 victories.
Lorenzo and his wife Leona have three daughters. 

Steve Sarkisian 
Head Football Coach, University of Washington

Joining the Huskies in 2008, Steve led his first season with five victories, as well as coaching the Huskies to finish third in the Pac-10 Conference with a 5-4 record in 2010. Sarkisian came to the UW with a wealth of experience as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. During his time at USC, Steve commanded one of the nation’s most consistent and dominant offenses and coached two Heisman Trophy winners – Carson Palmer, the top pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, and Matt Leinart, the 10th pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Included in his resume of outstanding quarterbacks are John David Booty and Mark Sanchez. His reputation for producing talented quarterbacks followed him at UW, as he added Jake Locker, the eighth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Steve and his wife Stephanie have two daughters and a son.

Rick E. Wirthlin 
President, KeyBank Seattle-Cascades District

Rick oversees KeyBank’s community banking system in North, Central and Eastern Washington. Within the community, he serves on the boards of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) and ArtsFund. Rick is also an advisory board member for the Executive Development Institute and member of the Community Development Roundtable. As Director of the Pacific Coast Banking School, Rick supports a program designed to help banking professionals develop advanced management decision-making abilities. A former caddy and life-long golfer, he is a director of the Western Golf Association, the governing body of the Evans Scholarship Foundation. The affiliation goes back to Rick’s college career, made possible by an Evans Scholarship.

Rick is married with a daughter and son.