How do you make sure every dollar, program and partnership creates the greatest possible impact?
Surprisingly, this question first came up around our Thanksgiving dinner table last year.
My sister-in-law, Paula, works for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an organization dedicated to supporting underserved women facing cancer through research, education and access to care. I work at SAS, where I have a front-row seat to how data and AI help organizations make better decisions and create meaningful outcomes.
The more she shared about the Fund’s work, I wondered what its data might tell us: Where was that work having the greatest impact and where could it make an even greater difference?
What began as a conversation between family members evolved into a powerful collaboration.
Fighting cancer from more than one direction
The Kay Yow Cancer Fund believes fighting cancer takes a holistic approach. Through programs like the EmPOWERment Tour and Play4Kay, the Fund brings together education, community, access to care and research. That can mean helping people understand the importance of prevention and early detection, removing barriers to screenings and navigation, bringing communities together through sport, or investing in research focused on cancers affecting women.
Each piece matters. Together, they create a greater impact.
Where purpose comes full circle
The partnership between SAS and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund goes beyond business. It is rooted in shared history, common values and a deep connection to North Carolina State University. SAS co-founder and CEO Jim Goodnight and legendary basketball coach Kay Yow each built enduring legacies at NC State, making this collaboration especially meaningful.
That connection resonated with both Paula and me as NC State alumni ourselves. In fact, I remember walking into my first statistics class as a freshman and wondering why there was a building on campus called “S-A-S.” At the time, I had no idea how closely my future would become connected to both the university and the company. Years later, being able to support work that helps advance the Kay Yow Cancer Fund's mission feels like a full-circle moment.
Where insights meet impact
We started this project with years of information about investments, grants, programs, community engagement efforts and outcomes. But having data is only the first step. The bigger question was what it could tell us about where the Fund was already making a difference and where future efforts could have even greater impact.
We began by measuring the Fund’s current impact, then expanded the analysis to explore where future programs and investments could potentially reach communities with greater need.
The initial analysis told us a compelling story about how funding translates into measurable community outcomes, education, and action. Focusing on one of the Fund's newest initiatives, the EmPOWERment Tour, we found that $475,000 in grant funding supported 12 cancer centers, engaged more than 20,000 women, provided patient navigation services to 1,200 women, and facilitated 4,100 screenings.
Put another way, for every $1,000 invested, approximately 42 women were reached with critical education, support, and access to care, demonstrating how strategic funding can drive meaningful and measurable change in communities across the country.
The education data showed another dimension of that impact. Across 17 EmPOWERment Tours, the program engaged 2,670 students, with average knowledge scores increasing from 54% before the program to 91% afterward. And the impact extended beyond what participants learned: 67% took action beyond attendance.
40% of all cancers are preventable with early detection. Imagine that being shared across young people’s social media platforms. At the end of every data point is a student being educated. That student then gets the opportunity to share with their family members. Paula Williams, Sr. Director of Programming, Kay Yow Cancer Fund
Expanding the playbook
To look ahead, we combined the Fund's data with public data on social determinants of health, social vulnerability, cancer incidence and mortality, and county-level health behaviors.
Together, those sources helped create a more complete picture of where communities may be experiencing greater challenges and where targeted support could have a greater impact.
Using SAS® Viya®, we analyzed those patterns and created visualizations that help the Fund to explore cancer trends by geography, including at the county level, to better understand how those trends vary across communities.
In an upcoming post in this series, we'll go behind the analysis to explore how these data sources came together and how SAS Viya helped turn them into insights the Fund can use to inform future decisions.
These insights will help the Kay Yow Cancer Fund identify communities with the greatest need and make more informed decisions about where to focus future EmPOWERment Tours, grant funding, educational programs and outreach efforts.
When you are talking about women facing cancer, we can’t waste time. When time is one of the most important factors in their lives, we have to make every decision count. I am confident that this data will help us do that. Jenny Palmateer, CEO, Kay Yow Cancer Fund
The human side of data
A few months ago, during a routine screening at the SAS Health Care Center, my providers discovered precancerous cervical cells. Suddenly, this project became much more than an analytics exercise. It became deeply personal.
Until then, I had been thinking about cancer through the lens of data, programs and outcomes. But at that moment, I was reminded that behind every data point is a person, a family and a story. Like so many others, I found myself facing uncertainty and navigating a health care journey I never expected to be part of.
I know that I am incredibly fortunate. I have excellent health insurance, wonderful providers at the SAS Health Care Center, and access to and encouragement for regular preventive screenings. I am aware that not all women have the same access that I do. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund is working to change that.
To me, access to care is an easy equation: access to care = access to hope. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund is bringing hope to women who need it most. That is a powerful mission. And while data doesn’t replace compassion, it can help compassion become more targeted.
Support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund
Help advance the Kay Yow Cancer Fund’s mission to improve outcomes for women facing cancer through research, education and access to care.
Learn more about the Kay Yow Cancer Fund →
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