Every October, pink ribbons bloom across downtown Fort Wayne like a second spring. They symbolize Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the work of the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, a homegrown effort that has become one of the most successful private funders of breast cancer research in the country — raising nearly $43 million since 1993.

When Stephanie Scheele became executive director in July 2022, she quickly learned humility had long defined the foundation’s culture. It has funneled tens of millions of dollars into research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, helping build one of the nation’s leading programs. Yet, she told The Journal Gazette this week, its leaders often hesitated to “shout from the rooftops” about what those dollars had made possible.

But acknow

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