What happens when we support boldness?
In my personal experience, individuals, be they close connections or distant and fleeting, directly or indirectly, whether they knew it or not, encouraged me to embrace my difference, to go for it, toward the unexpected, the untrodden, the unproven, and the unlikely, to acknowledge the current zeitgeist, prevailing thought or path or expectation and then challenge the status quo, to take risks. In doing so, they gently prodded and violently pushed, for me to stand in the uniqueness of my own skin and thoughts – they cultivated boldness. When I embraced bold, I went from homelessness on the street on my own at 14 to a career in biotech investment banking at some of the top firms on wall street.
When we support boldness, we seed confidence.
When we support boldness, we create courage.
When we support boldness, we allow space for inspiration to draw its first breaths.
When we support boldness, we tip the first domino the procession of dominos that lead to transformational change.
I am here to support and encourage boldness. To that end, I recently accepted the challenge to participate, along with over 20 of my esteemed colleagues across the biotech community, in the Timmerman Traverse up Kilimanjaro to support the Damon Runyon cancer researchers who are brilliant, and bold.
Damon Runyon provides young scientists with the resources and freedom to pursue brave and bold ideas. Prior grant recipients have laid the foundation for the innovative treatments and treatment modalities that define our field today, including targeted therapies, CRISPR gene editing, and cancer immunotherapy. To date, the Foundation has been the birthplace of 13 Nobel Prize winners, and with the help of our community, many more to come.
Our expedition team has a goal of raising $1.0 million dollars to further the research efforts of Damon Runyon. I have pledged a goal of raising at least $50,000 and with your support, I hope to exceed that number for this foundation which has proven to have the potential to change the landscape of cancer treatment.
Please support our team by making a generous contribution to the cause and enabling the pursuit of boldness in cancer research.
Thank you,
Mairin