Tech Day of Pink: Estée Lauder CIO’s global IT movement to fund breast cancer research

When he joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2017, Michael Smith recognized a way he could help make a difference in a different way than his typical CIO duties: raise awareness about breast cancer.

To help raise funding for research through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), Smith started Tech Day of Pink at Estée Lauder, announcing that he would donate a set amount to BCRF for every selfie an IT team member posted with the Tech Day of Pink hashtag. The idea caught on and several CIOs from Smith’s network pledged to do the same.

Since then, Tech Day of Pink has since grown into a worldwide annual movement. On the second Thursday of every October, professionals and organizations in the tech industry are invited to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month through the initiative. This year, Tech Day in Pink will take place on Oct. 10. The Estée Lauder Companies provide starter ideas on how to get your organization involved.

“It’s an initiative that is dedicated to mobilizing the global technology community to help create a breast cancer–free world — that’s the mission of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, of the Estée Lauder Companies breast cancer campaign, and it is the mission of Tech Day of Pink —  to see breast cancer end in our lifetime,” says Smith.  

Evelyn H. Lauder, former senior corporate vice president and head of fragrance development for Estée Lauder, provided Smith inspiration for the initiative. Lauder was passionate about the cause, helping to co-found the Pink Ribbon, a symbol now synonymous with Breast Cancer Awareness. The late executive also went on to help found BCRF in 1993 along with Larry Norton, MD.

Inspired by Lauder’s legacy for philanthropy, Smith realized his platform as CIO of Estée Lauder gave him the perfect opportunity to “unite technologists and IT professionals worldwide around Breast Cancer Awareness.” His goal continues to be to drive awareness in the tech industry — an industry that is proving instrumental in healthcare breakthroughs — and to raise funding for breast cancer research.

“Research is revolutionizing our understanding of cancer — it’s leading us to the core of the disease. It’s transforming lives every day as women and men both get the help that they need when they’re diagnosed,” he says.

Much of that research is applicable to other cancers, Smith adds, meaning that a breakthrough in breast cancer research can potentially benefit even more patients diagnosed with other cancers.

“The impact of this research is wide ranging — in 2022 there were 2.3 million women worldwide diagnosed with breast cancer. And every 14 seconds, somewhere in the world, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the most common cancer in women, both in the developed world and the less developed world, and it’s the most common cancer in women overall. It’s the most frequently diagnosed cancer in 157 of the 185 countries worldwide,” he says.

A call to action for technologists

Tech Day of Pink started small but has grown into a larger global movement, along with an annual benefit concert and silent auction. This third annual benefit concert for Tech Day of Pink, held on Oct. 10 in New York City, along with a silent auction and a performance by Grammy-nominated Pink Sweat$. All proceeds from the concert, including ticket sales, go directly to the BCRF to fund breast cancer research.

For technologists who can’t attend the benefit, there are other ways to get involved, such as posting a photo on social media wearing pink or a Pink Ribbon and sharing it under the hashtag #TechInPink2024, along with why the cause is important to you. Raising awareness through social media is at the core of Tech Day of Pink, and a great way to get started if you want to get involved.

Organizations and technologists are also encouraged to find new ways to raise awareness around Tech Day of Pink — whether it’s by donating or organizing their own events around the cause. For example, in 2021 the Women in Technology and Women in Supply Chain ERGs at Estee Lauder started an annual Tech Day of Pink walk-a-thon, which has helped draw in more companies, partners, and donors.  

Smith says that he has found that CIOs are eager to “have an impact, to make a difference, and to do good in this world.” Many CIOs and tech execs are starting to “recognize the platforms that they have, and the impact that they can make — and not just through technology itself, but through their influence and through their impact. People have been very excited to get involved and to make a difference.”

But you don’t have to be an executive to get involved — the cause is for everyone in the tech industry who wants to support breast cancer awareness and research. The goal is for the day to be accessible for everyone, with a low barrier for entry so that everyone can be a part of ending the fight against breast cancer.

“The easiest thing you can do to make an impact, that costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time, is to post. And that still is at the core call to action. Anybody in technology can do that, and it makes a big difference — almost everybody has a story to tell. And even if you don’t have a story to tell, we still encourage you to post,” says Smith.

Making a global impact

Starting more conversations around breast cancer, especially in an industry that has been traditionally male-dominated, has also helped spark women’s health programs at organizations, says Smith. These conversations, he adds, have sparked progress around health benefits, such as free mammograms, especially in areas of the world where these topics are often taboo, leaving women to go “undiagnosed or untreated.”

“We’re raising that awareness sometimes in these cultures where it’s a stigma that we’re actually able to save lives,” he says.

Smith has also received feedback over the years that Tech Day of Pink can go a long way in uniting tech teams and fostering team bonding. While the goal is to help bring an end to breast cancer through awareness, education, and funding, Smith says a “side benefit” has been that the Tech Day of Pink is also a “great team-building moment that builds pride in teams.”

While it’s impossible to track the exact financial impact of Tech Day of Pink, since many participants make direct donations to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Smith says they can attribute more than $165,000 donations last year to BCRF. That was just from donations tracked through the benefit concert, silent auction, ntand the walkathon. This year they’re aiming to get that donation number up to $250,000, enough to fund a researcher for a full year through BCRF.

This is the 8th annual Tech Day in Pink, and Smith’s biggest hope is that they “never have to do it again, because we end breast cancer,” but in the interim he hopes the cause continues to grow both in awareness and funding, bringing more tech workers into the fold. He hopes to gain more ambassadors for the cause, bringing in more “people that will continue to drive this cause — until we see the success of the mission.”

“I never would have guessed in year one that that we would have millions of people participating, hundreds of companies, that we would have a concert, or that we’d be doing a walkathon. I want to make sure that this effort continues until we bring breast cancer to an end,” says Smith.