Remarks from Rob Perez at the Boston Impact Breakfast on Monday, April 7, 2025

Good morning! Can I just start by saying thanks to all of you for being here? I mean, really, there is a lot going on right now in the world, in our industry, and the fact that you took the time to be here, to be together, to help others says everything about you, and about us as an industry

For the past 9 years, we’ve been doing Impact events like these, and I have stood before you asking for your help and generous support. In almost every case, you have responded. (I say almost, because a couple of times y’all came up a little short. Boston! We can’t have that this year) 

Nah, I’m just playin’. You ALWAYS respond.

This year is different. This year, as you’ve heard from our partners, the need for what LSC provides has grown exponentially and is unprecedented. It’s because of this need that I am going to ask for something that I have no right to ask… that you double the size of the contribution you made last year, or that you were planning to make today.

I say I have no right, because I recognize that while it is an extremely difficult time for our nonprofit partners, it is also an extremely difficult time for all of you. Our industry has been rocked with value destruction, people have lost jobs, and there is tremendous uncertainty about what the future will hold for all of us.

In addition, lots of folks feel paralyzed about what to do. There is fear of standing out and becoming a target for real or perceived opposition to some of the changes being proposed, and there is concern that there is nothing one company or one individual can do to make a meaningful difference.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about LSC during these times, and the direction I am giving to our organization can be summarized with 3 B’s:

• Be Smart
• Be Present
• Be Better

Be Smart, meaning we need to stay focused on our North Star, the people who are impacted by poverty, and how we can help them. It might make us feel better to stand out in public protests against things we find unfair, but if our public protest diminishes our ability to help those in need, it will not have served our interests. 

Be Present means we have to listen to our nonprofit partners in a way that is more empathic than ever before. As you just heard, their needs are vast, but also very specific in the way each nonprofit partner is meeting this moment. Our goal at LSC is not necessarily to be our nonprofit partners’ biggest funder, but to be their absolute best partner. The way we do that is to listen better and exceed expectations in our response. 

The last is to BE BETTER. That means we need to raise more money, provide more volunteer support, deliver more in-kind donations, and do what we do bigger and better than ever before.

That is why, though I have no right to do so, I am asking you all to be better than you ever have in giving of your surplus, to help us meet this moment.

LSC is about caring actively, TOGETHER. There is no more important time for us as an industry to stand together, fight for our communities. It is the safest, most effective way for us to make a real impact on the lives of people who are suffering, but also to show the world that the life sciences industry is one that should be revered and admired, not reviled and mistrusted, as we often are today. 

We continually hear that people want to get engaged, want to help, but don’t know how, or feel like their hands are tied because of real concerns about the unintended consequences of their support. Giving to LSC carries none of that risk and will provide a way to amplify the effectiveness of every dollar you give, with the collective impact of all your colleagues in the industry.

[Removed details specific to Boston event & opportunities to contribute.]

Let me close by saying thank you. Thank you for all you’ve done, thank you for what you are doing today, and thank you for what you will do to help us meet this moment.

I’ll leave you with this. As many of you know, I’m a bit of a student of happiness. I have an insatiable desire to better understand what makes me happy, often by learning where others find happiness. Since I’m already over time I won’t get into what those insights are, but I can tell you that every happiness scholar posits two things: that happiness is a journey, not a destination, AND that happiness is about the choices we make in deciding how we will respond to the world and how it impacts us.

During this time of divisiveness, anger, and distrust in our world. I choose compassion and love. I can’t guarantee you that love will cure all ills, or make you blissfully happy each day, but I can report that, for me at least, the feeling of actively participating in helping others, in giving of my surplus to help others in need, is as close as I can get to a sure thing to enhancing my journey towards happiness. I am very confident it will do the same for you.