Letter from the Founders and President & CEO

To our Friends and Colleagues,

We believe that the Kirsch Foundation has been established as a progressive – and perhaps original – foundation after only three years of intense effort. Our record of innovation and creativity is clear:
  • Our determination to bridge gaps and dismantle barriers has led to a new model for collaborative, engaged funding in basic medical research that other institutions are beginning to emulate.
  • Our commitment to leveraging our resources by creating a partnership between our grantmaking and public policy work on environmental issues remains unique.
  • Our willingness to tackle unusual or obscure topics, such as asteroid identification and tracking, with financial support and visibility through public presentations and our website, has given a boost to causes that might not otherwise have had a large audience.
  • Our role as an early adopter of the supporting organization model within community foundations has paved the way for other foundations, both within Silicon Valley and around the world.

While we are proud of our accomplishments and this report identifies some specific work we completed this past fiscal year (July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2002), it has been our most challenging year due to a variety of events: September 11, 2001; major slides in the Dow and NASDAQ; and an economic recession.

We have had to re-evaluate our priorities, make difficult decisions about funding and eliminating grant programs, and focus on lobbying activities to maximize our impact on issues that matter to us. But we also used these difficulties to identify the values – and the value-added – of the Foundation:

  • Bridging gaps
  • Finding opportunities where others see barriers
  • Leveraging grantmaking and lobbying activities
  • Working collaboratively with other funders – and with our grant recipients
  • Seeking creative solutions to long-standing problems

In the context of those challenges, our successes in furthering a clean air agenda, advancing the right of scientists to pursue cutting-edge medical research with the approval and financial support of the government, and supporting local organizations that provide a safety net to those most in need, are tangible and satisfying.

We continue to be invigorated by the opportunity to make a difference. That opportunity would not be possible, however, without the dedication of a small group of people who provide strategic guidance, constant encouragement, and their best professional efforts to further the Foundation’s work. We thank Board members Perry Olson and Harry Saal, the Scientific Advisory Board and the Catalyst For a Cure Scientific Advisory Group, the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, and, most importantly, the talented Kirsch Foundation staff.


Steven T. Kirsch
Co-Founder and
Board Chairman		 Michèle van Blitter Kirsch
Co-Founder		 Kathleen Gwynn
President & CEO