People Give to People: Meet Gloria Kwei, Gladstone’s Most Loyal Donor

Philanthropy is a personal choice and often stems from personal experience. They say that “people give to people,” meaning that if you’re asked to give by someone you respect for a cause you (or they) care about, you are very likely to give. But people also give for people.

Although Gloria Kwei’s family has been involved with the medical field in various ways for generations—her father worked for Eli Lilly, her mother was a pharmacist, her brother was a researcher in drug therapies, and her sister was a doctor—it wasn’t until her husband, George, himself a physical chemist, passed away from heart disease that she turned her focus toward supporting medical research philanthropically. In fact, she was Gladstone Institutes’ very first donor in 2005, the same year Gladstone moved to its current Mission Bay location.

While grieving the loss of her husband, Gloria looked for ways to honor him and bring awareness to his condition. She asked her husband’s surgeon at UC San Fransisco for advice, and she remembers he recommended Gladstone without hesitation. Gloria asked friends and family to donate in George’s memory, and she herself also donated.

At the time, she didn’t realize Gladstone didn’t have a philanthropy department, but she was touched and impressed with the kindness of then-president Robert Mahley, MD, PhD, who sent her a personal handwritten note of appreciation. She credits his outreach and Gladstone’s transparent, accessible communications as the reasons she continues to give each year in memory of her husband.

Although Gloria first donated to honor her late husband and make an impact on heart disease, she now notes that the most rewarding thing about continuing to support Gladstone is knowing that she is helping to make a difference for a wide variety of diseases that affect so many people globally.

“Gladstone scientists are incredibly intelligent and creative, and the breadth of this creativity in all its people is amazing,” says Gloria.

From delivering technical talks online to leading lab tours with her and her grandchildren, Gladstone scientists and staff express enthusiasm for their research through multiple engaging channels. They are able to connect the dots between their research and how it translates to treatments and drugs for patients like her late husband. She firmly believes that the power of its outreach is why people give to Gladstone.

“Gladstone’s communications really tell the story of what researchers are working on, and describe the science behind the body-medicine connection,” says Gloria. She adds that everyone in the organization contributes to this impact: “They make the science come alive.”