Kara Skaflestad '04

Marketing Manager
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

Founder & Executive Director
Fighting Pretty

“York College taught me a lot about myself. I have an entrepreneurial spirit, and going to York enabled me to test drive that aspect of myself, and ultimately gave me the confidence to go out into the real world and start my own organization and go after what I believed in.”

Current City: Portland, OR

YCP Degree: BS Marketing

Spartan Snapshots

Diagnosed at age 26 with stage 3 breast cancer, received a double mastectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy, four weeks of radiation, fertility treatments, a year of Herceptin treatments and hormone therapy that would last for a total of 10 years
Works with cancer hospitals all over the country to implement a Fighting Pretty program to give packages to patients undergoing reconstructive surgeries or chemotherapy
Fighting Pretty was started in 2013 with over 7,500 Fighting Pretty packages sent to women all over the world, 8 countries globally, and 50 volunteer brand ambassadors
Recognized by the American Cancer Society, Fighting Pretty has received donations from major corporations such as Maybelline, Revlon, and O.P.I. even created a signature nail polish, named “Fighting Pretty”
Featured on The Today Show during Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Started the American Association Chapter and Co-founded Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)
YCP Student Leader Involvement: YCP Rugby player and Senior Honor Society recipient
Keynote Speaker during the YCP Excel Series program in 2019

View all of the Year of 50 Spartans award recipients.