Leslie Giblett
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Leslie Giblett | |||
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Leslie Giblett is an American businesswoman and philanthropist from Seattle, WA. She is notable for her efforts initiating social service and medical research funding that provides a positive impact on society. She is the Founding Sponsor of the GSBA Giblett Family Endowed Scholarship and the Elo Giblett Endowed Professorship in Hematology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle WA. Founded in 2009, the Elo Giblett Endowed Professorship, provides funding for medical research in the field of Hematology. This Professorship allowed the first recipient, John Harlan, MD, the financial ability to begin his program to train African cancer medical professionals on methods to analyze and alleviate instances of cancer, especially HIV related cancers. The funding from Ms Giblett for this crucial research, has helped to create programs to reduce cancer instances in Uganda. This is a $500,00 Professorship, where the recipient retains the funding as long as they are affiliated with UW Medicine. In 2019, the Giblett Family Endowed Scholarship was awarded to Cashayla Rogers; a student pursuing the goal of confronting and reforming an educational system that has been designed to oppress and marginalize LGBTQ students. As a Human rights lawyer, she will defend the rights of marginalized communities while using her voice to empower others to enact change. This scholarship is awarded annually to a student who meets a standard of high educational and social achievement, and will be given into perpetuity in the amount of $10,000 per year.
Career
Giblett attended the University of WA in Seattle, WA, graduating with a bachelor's degree. She started her career as a Statistical Analyst at SAFECO Insurance Companies in Seattle, and continued her career specializing in Information Technology Program and Project Management. Her career spanned over 10 years at Microsoft and expanded to include a number of other local companies including Amazon, Costco, and Weyerhaeuser.
Early life and influences
Born and raised in Seattle, Giblett spent most of her childhood living on the top of Queen Anne Hill with her four siblings, her Australian mother and WWII Navy pilot father, who suffered from various war injuries, but nonetheless supported and cared for the family. Joann Giblett, Leslie’s Mother, was known to be a cultured and well-traveled ‘bon vivant’ who performed Legal work for various Law Firms, including Rombauer and Sons, known as experts in Law, but also as the family that produced the successful cookbook, ‘The Joy of Cooking’ as well as later, Rombauer Wineries. Joann actively participated in menu and recipe testing, and created many masterful culinary creations as she consulted with the popular restaurants of the time, including Canlis and Rossellini’s. Leslie grew up with a dedication to learning and a curiosity about everything, especially Science. At a young age, she is known to have expressed delight after discovering that her Aunt, Eloise R Giblett, MD (referred to as ‘Elo’), was an award-winning hematologist and scientific researcher, and Leslie grasped at every opportunity to spend time with her. The time often included Leslie accompanying her Aunt to the Puget Sound Blood Center, where Elo worked as a researcher and subsequently became the Director. Leslie was able to spin blood in the centrifuge and otherwise quench her thirst for knowledge about all things Science. The influence of Leslie’s Aunt would carry over into adulthood, where her curiosity served her well as an analyst in Computer technology, and also as she listened to her Aunt’s philosophy on helping others in the community. Leslie’s Aunt Elo was a strong believer in giving back to the Community, and would instill this belief in Leslie by recounting stories of her child and adulthood, where she had helped those in need. Some of those stories involved Elo’s time spent in the Navy WAVES in WWII, where she was a medical tech, and also included the influence of certain films that portrayed the benefits of helping humanity. The foremost film in the group was ‘Magnificent Obsession’, with Rock Hudson, whose primary theme was the ‘magnificent obsession’ of quietly helping people and asking nothing in return.
Philanthropy
Beginnings
While working at SAFECO Insurance, a company that promoted the idea that community service was an essential part of working there, Leslie first started volunteering. Her initial opportunity was with the King County Superior Court as a member of the Juvenile Court Diversion committee, assisting in mediation for Court cases when young people had been arrested for divertible offences. Her passion and success in this position advanced her to Area Co-Chair, and lasted for 10 years, until the laws changed and Diversion by citizen groups was no longer an option. 1980’s: As the AIDS crisis in Seattle came to a head and began affecting many in Leslie’s social circle, including her gay brother, (who was infected in 1986, and later died of HIV related causes), there was a need to establish a resource center in Seattle. Leslie teamed with a group of men and women from the Community and became a Founding Member of the Northwest AIDs Foundation. She worked on the Donor Management system, managed fund raisers, collaborated with medical professionals and researchers, and did whatever she could to help the community that was being ravaged by this disease.
'1990’s
While working at Microsoft, Leslie became involved with Microsoft’s LGBTQ diversity organization, GLEAM, and also volunteered as Diversity Co-Chair, working to ensure that Microsoft engaged with and supported its various diversity groups. Her involvement in GLEAM, and her interest in ensuring that the rights of diverse populations were acknowledged and protected, resulted in several other volunteer opportunities; NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights), HRC (Human Rights Commission), Lambda Legal and the PRIDE Foundation. Involvement in these groups included trips to WA DC for dinners, fundraisers and other events, and actively engaging with the Boards and executives to participate in events to raise awareness of Legal issues within the country. Highlights included attending the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, meeting Hillary and Bill Clinton, President and Michelle Obama, and engaging with other prominent Democrats. And, also Leslie and family members were some of the few people from Seattle given the opportunity to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt.
2000 – current time
Leslie’s Aunt Elo passed away in September of 2009, and Leslie was committed to establishing a way to commemorate her Aunt and ensure her legacy. In 2010, the Elo Giblett Endowed Professorship in Hematology was established and funded. This endowed Professorship provides funded research capabilities to renowned hematologists at UW Medicine in Seattle, WA. Thus far, there have only been two recipients, John Harlan, MD and the current honoree, Thalia Papayannopoulou, MD. The GSBA Giblett Family Endowed Scholarship was established by Leslie in 2016, to honor her family, and create an opportunity for those in the lgbtq+ community to have hope for the future. By the end of 2010, all of Leslie’s family had died, including her four siblings. The Endowment is fully funded and provides $10,000 per year to a deserving student who meets the selection criteria established by the endowment. A primary requirement is that the young person has either been rejected by their family for being lgbtq+ or ostracized by their community for the same reason. Part of the reason for this was Leslie observing the parental rejection of her own gay brother by her Mother, and that Leslie’s brother, Robert, was actually put into juvenile court housing by her Mother because he was gay. Leslie continues to give back both locally and nationally. Local contributions include tiles in her name at the Pike Place Market, fish at the Woodland Park Zoo and books in her name on the set of a Pacific NW Ballet set for Copellia.
Board Memberships
Bloodworks NW – formerly known as the Puget Sound Blood Center Bailey Boushay AIDs Housing – providing end of life housing and care to the terminally ill Seattle Opera – Seattle’s premier Opera Company
References
External links
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