Jean Smart, a Ballard High School graduate and Emmy Award-winning actress, has joined the Chris Elliott Fund as a board member and as their public spokesperson in its fight against brain cancer.

Smart will be speaking at the Chris Elliott Fund's Eighth Annuyal Gray Ribbon Gala and Benefit Auction tonight at the Golf Club at Newcastle about her sister's battle with brain cancer.

"It's time to wage war against brain cancer as we do for any other life threatening disease," she said in a press release. "The work that CEF does for people like my sister and all brain tumor patients and their families is phenomenal."

The Chris Elliott Fund is a nonprofit organization, which funds the Integrative Patient Support Program at Seattle's Swedish Neuroscience Institute.

Folowing her stint as a Ballard Beaver, Smart has starred in the television series, such as "24" and "Designing Women." She won an Emmy Award in 2008 for her role in the ABC show "Samantha Who?"