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While much of Robin Richards Donohoe's career has been spent building technology companies, in the last decade, she has devoted an increasing amount of her time trying to solve major sociological and healthcare problems through her philanthropic efforts. Robin, a partner in the venture capital firms Draper International and Draper Richards L.P., has been focusing her investment savvy and strategic planning expertise helping philanthropic causes improve their financial strength and focus their resources.
Robin and her business partner, venture capital pioneer Bill Draper, began investing in early-stage technology companies domestically and in India in 1994. “The software outsourcing in India had just begun and the bubble was under way,” she said. With ideal timing as well as a solid investment strategy, by 2000, Robin and Bill recorded an annual return of 115% for their investors. “Equally gratifying,” Robin said, “we had started 80–90 companies and created more than 20,000 jobs around the world.”
At that stage, Robin and Bill–who she notes is one of her greatest inspirations and mentors–decided to put some of their fortune aside to give back to others. “We sold four companies to Microsoft and put that stock into an irrevocable non-profit foundation.”
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Robin serves on seven boards in addition to supporting other causes such as the University of North Carolina and Stanford, where she earned her MBA. “I also feel strongly about two major issues: the poor state of public education in the U.S. and medical research.” She noted that her role is often in investing. “I try to make these groups prosper behind the scenes.”
Meanwhile, Robin and her husband Chris are raising their four young children ages 1–7. Balance is a word she uses often.
Robin credits her late mother with the influence and inspiration in this area. “She was a phenomenal woman who served the community, while raising seven children.” Balancing family with service and a love for tennis, hiking, and travel was an important lesson in Robin's life. “We shared a love for adventure.” Her mother's battle with multiple myeloma and most recent battle with frontal temporal dementia has also influenced Robin’s philanthropic efforts toward biomedical research.
Robin's role at Gladstone began with brother-in-law Bob Farese, a senior investigator in the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease. “I had seen how diligently he worked with such a high caliber of people.”
“The attraction of Gladstone is its focus on three disease areas, the high quality of everything it does and its entrepreneurial spirit in terms of its relationships with companies like Merck to get its research out the door,” Robin said. “Also, the continued desire to be leading-edge in areas such as stem cell research makes Gladstone stand out.”
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In 2001, the Draper Richards Foundation was formed to “do for non-profits what we loved to do in the for-profit world–invest in early-stage social entrepreneurs who have a vision for changing the world,” she said. The foundation provides $100,000 per year for 3 years to enable the organization to build critical mass to attract funding from larger foundations. “We look at any ideas,” Robin says. “But they must be replicable, rolled out like a business. And the entrepreneur must have a great business mind.”
From “Little Kids Rock,” which trains teachers and provides instruments for music classes in schools, to “Room to Read,” which builds schools and libraries in Southeast Asia, the Draper Richards Foundation has funded and mentored 20 different organizations based on world-changing ideas.
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As a member of the Advisory Council and vice chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Robin hopes to apply her abilities to help expand Gladstone's reputation throughout the Bay Area and beyond. “I would love to see it become nationally known as the premier biomedical institution it is,” she said. She wants to contribute to the strategic development and leadership aspects of the organization.
Robin and Chris introduced 50 of their friends and associates to Gladstone by hosting the first “Science Salon” at their San Francisco home. The salon featured GICD's Deepak Srivastava speaking informally and answering questions about stem cell research and heart disease.
“Stem cell research and its promise is one area that really interests me,” she said. “I'm so glad that Gladstone is taking a leadership role in this area.”
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