A Closer Look: Donna Allen, MBA 1980

Former insurance executive Donna Allen has given up her career--until there's a cure. Photo by Robert Holmgren

AT THE END OF THE LAST DECADE, Donna Allen was a senior vice president at a high-profile insurance company. Today, she is the full-time volunteer board director of a nonprofit organization.

In 1994, following the devastating loss of someone very close to her from AIDS, Allen started as a volunteer at the Until There's a Cure Foundation in Palo Alto, helping out with everything from filing and answering the phone to setting up meetings. It's been, says Allen, enriching for the soul. "It was a wonderful feeling to use my background in business to help a nonprofit organization, especially one that hit so close to home," she says. Over time Allen became increasingly involved with the operation of the foundation, and last year she was elected president of the board of directors.

Today, the foundation's four-person staff and a platoon of volunteers keep the organization steamrolling. Until There's a Cure raises funds through the sale of a bracelet similar to the MIA bracelets worn by Americans in the mid-1970s to commemorate the soldiers who were still missing in Vietnam. Available in gold or silver, the 1/4-inch-wide bracelets feature a raised AIDS ribbon on the outside.

"All of the money we raise goes to AIDS support and research," Allen says. High-profile recognition of the foundation is important, and savvy events such as the San Francisco Giants' annual Until There's a Cure Day is a major fundraiser, strategically planned for maximum exposure. "The Giants pick a day during the season when a large crowd is expected to attend," says Allen. With one dollar from every ticket sold going to the foundation, "it's quite a fundraising coup," she says.

It's everyone's dream that organizations like Until There's a Cure will someday be obsolete, but Allen cautions against a growing apathy. "There's a sense of complacency all around us," she says, adding that too many people believe a cure is right around the corner. "And it's just not true; this is an incredibly complex disease."

Her goal is to get as many alums involved with Until There's a Cure as she can. Allen and the foundation will take all the support they can muster, and in whatever form it comes. If you'd like to get involved, the Web site is located at http://www.until.org. -- PETER CALLAHAN