Bay Area Chapter Forges Meaningful Partnerships That Embody Active Caring
Life Science Cares is a non-profit organization that operates in Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, and New York. Its mission is to activate the financial and human capital of the Life Sciences industry and partner with nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty in its communities. One of the key tenets of Life Science Cares is “active caring.” Life Science Cares prides itself in not being simply a grant-making organization, but one that actively seeks to partner with its grantees and help solve societal problems through a combination of volunteerism and thought partnership from Life Science employees.
Life Science Cares focuses on three areas of core needs:
- Access to Basic Needs
- Access to Education
- Access to Economic Opportunity
In the Bay Area, Life Science Cares was formed less than two years ago when leaders from the Life Sciences industry got together and agreed that there is so much they and their organizations could do collectively to help the communities in which they live and operate. George Scangos, CEO of Vir Bio, Chairman of the Life Science Cares Bay Area chapter, and Ted Love, former CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics, were the founding members of the Bay Area chapter. They wanted to emulate the success of Life Science Cares in Boston and carry the vision of Life Science Cares founder Rob Perez. They believed the Bay Area has infinite potential and they were right: Life Science Cares Bay Area has gained tremendous momentum since its launch. Since its formation in 2021 Life Science Cares Bay Area has enlisted many new supporters, small and large companies alike. Together, they have tackled some of the Bay Area’s most persistent problems around poverty and equity.
While the organization is proud of the close to $2M in grants gifted to 18 nonprofit partners in under two years, they are equally proud of the manner in which they have engaged those community partners, and of the platform they have given life science employees to give back. In each of the focus areas, Life Science Cares Bay Area has forged meaningful partnerships that embody the active caring (grants + human capital) that is the signature of the organization.
The above chart represents Life Science Cares Bay Area’s 2022 Nonprofit Partners, organized by location and focus area.
BASIC NEEDS:
One of Life Science Cares Bay Area’s first grantees was GLIDE, a San-Francisco based organization that provides service to the homeless. At the beginning of 2021, GLIDE with other key partners launched and operated a vaccination clinic in the Tenderloin, a famously underserved neighborhood in San Francisco. Life Science Cares Bay Area provided funding and volunteer efforts that supported approximately 3,500 vaccinations in 2021 and over 6,000 care packages to support vaccinated individuals. Life Science Cares Bay Area supported a similar effort in Oakland through La Clinica de La Raza where it provided funding to hire a vaccination site manager.
EDUCATION:
In addition to Health Equity, one of the focus areas for Life Science Cares Bay Area has been supporting underrepresented students in exploring careers in the Life Sciences industry. Building on the success, provided in 2021 to organizations that support under-represented students such as The Center for Excellence in Life (TCEL) and Oakland-based Umoja Health, Life Science Cares Bay area launched Project Onramp. Building on the success of its sister affiliate in Boston, the Bay Area Chapter launched its first cohort in the summer 2022 thanks to a grant from Global Blood Therapeutics. In its first year, Life Science Cares Bay Area placed 25 interns in 15 Life Science companies, opening doors for under-represented students who may not have otherwise considered a career in Life companies to welcome interns for the first time.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY:
Life Science Cares Bay Area also seeks to support vulnerable and underserved populations with opportunity so they can thrive economically and socially. In 2022, in collaboration with ALAS (Ayudando Latinos a Sonar), Life Science Cares Bay Area launched the Equity Express, an innovative initiative to bring a wifi equipped / retrofitted bus to remote farmworkers and bring needed programs such as telemedicine, mental health support, tutoring and adult learning to address some of the disparities experienced by that population. This collaboration was supported through a generous grant from the Gilead Foundation, the primary funder, as well as hands-on expertise from Genentech and other financial contributions specifically directed towards the initiative from donors such as Abbvie. The vision is that this pilot will bear fruitful learnings and be an example for other farming communities across the state and nation.
The examples above constitute a sampling of the partnerships Life Science Cares Bay Area has established across its 18 nonprofit partners. In addition to financial grants, Life Science Cares Bay Area has activated many volunteers in the community and provided in kind- donations in 2022. See Summary of impacts below and download our full Impact Report here.
In 2023, Life Science Cares Bay Area seeks to continue to deepen relationships across a broad base of community partnerships as well as continue to engage Life Science stakeholders. Corporate sponsorships are available for Life Science companies; they unlock volunteer engagements for employees, as well as access to signature events, and recognition for the Life Science company as a supporter. Life Science Cares Bay Area is also looking to expand its board of advisors to include Life Science leaders interested in acting as champions and ambassadors of the mission of Life Science Cares.
If you are interested in learning more about how to get engaged with Life Science Cares, including becoming a corporate partner and engaging your employees or joining the board of advisors, please reach out to Aisha Baro at [email protected].
To view and download our complete 2022 Bay Area Impact Report, click here.