Our dad, John Kissick, believed that philanthropy was not an individual pursuit, but a shared responsibility.
Every December, he would gather the family in the living room for the foundation’s annual meeting. No matter where our lives and careers had taken us that year, these convenings were a moment to pause and reflect. We’d crowd around him – dogs included – poring over the year’s grants, debating impact, reading reports, asking questions. Our dad always encouraged us to pursue our own paths, but he never let the foundation’s work feel far away. We knew it would be ours one day. We just didn’t expect that day to come so soon.
Our dad was a leader in the finance world – known as someone who recognized unique talent, took bets where others would not, and lived by the belief that doing well and doing good could go hand in hand. He and our mom started the foundation when we were kids, and for decades, he dedicated himself to it. In “retirement”, it became his full-time job. He was deeply engaged in the work, not only as a diligent grantmaker, but also as a member of countless nonprofit boards, a mentor to philanthropic leaders, and a committed community-builder. Much of the foundation’s work during those early years focused on expanding educational opportunities for young people, as well as supporting rigorous medical research. Our dad applied the same creativity and conviction to philanthropy that he had to business. He ran it with everything he had.
Then in 2018, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. What followed was brutal. The disease moved fast – stripping away his capacities before any of us had time to prepare. The man who had been running the foundation entirely on his own, a force of nature who did everything at full speed, was suddenly unable to communicate, let alone lead. The disease sabotaged any semblance of a smooth transition plan. One day, he was at the helm; the next, we were.
So, we rolled up our sleeves and dug in, learning as we went, energized by the challenge and yet unable to turn to the one person we needed most for guidance. We were determined to continue what he had built, but we also knew that simply preserving it wasn’t enough.
Our father had always envisioned the foundation would bring our family together and challenge us to tackle urgent problems. To him, it was never a monument. It was a dynamic project. One built to do real, necessary work in the world. And he believed that to do that well, you had to be willing to take risks, be creative, and evolve.
So that’s what we’ve tried to do. We’ve stepped into the co-president roles with a commitment to simultaneously honor his legacy and our own values. We’re carrying forward what our dad built while making it our own. We’re deepening the foundation’s reach and impact, while continually learning to do our jobs better. Telling our story is part of that work, and you, our community, are too.
Thanks for being here.
-Kasey & Ryan
