MBA Profile: Kathy Giusti

An MBA featuring general management courses and a knowledge of business fundamentals helped one woman start a powerful advocacy group. This CEO and founder draws her charitable inspiration from a very personal source.

Kathy Giusti Beat the Odds. Now, She’s Finding a Cure for Thousands
by Amelia Gray

Kathy Giusti may have wanted to be a wife and mother, holding a comfortable management position, but life had other plans. Through career changes and unexpected challenges, this graduate uses her MBA in general management to overcome problems and serve as an advocate for a rare disease.

Unexpected Inspiration

In 1996, the Harvard Business School graduate was putting her MBA and experience with marketing to good use as a pharmaceutical executive for Searle. Her only child, Nicole, was nearly two, and Kathy and her husband were looking forward to another child and a comfortable life. It was the middle of January 1996 when Kathy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, or MM, a rare blood cancer that attacks the bones. She was expected to live three to four years.

Giusti, who graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Biological Science, scrambled to combine her knowledge of science and business. As she researched the disease, she found little by way of information and support. Many would have given up, but Kathy was inspired. The knowledge of marketing and management she gained in her MBA education gave her the confidence to approach her disease with a business plan.

Siblings Become Partners

As she suffered with MM, Kathy’s family gathered around her for support. It was through this bond that Kathy found an unlikely partner. Her twin sister, Karen Andrews, was a powerful lawyer with her own career. Together, the sisters combined years of legal experience with the leadership power of an MBA to form the Multiple Myeloma Research Association.

Unlike some charitable organizations, the MMRA’s business plan involved more venture capital than charity work. With an MBA graduate at the helm, the Association was built efficiently from the ground up, employing a small knowledgeable staff capable of a large monetary turnaround. Kathy used her MBA management skills to run a powerful organization that immediately impressed donors. One wrote a check for $500,000, telling Kathy: “I’ve read your financials. I just know you’re going to make a difference.”

In 2001, the Harvard Business School named her Entrepreneur of the Year. But for Kathy Giusti, who had her second child in May 1997, the inspiration that drives her business comes more from her children than big awards. In an interview with The New York Times, Kathy recalls a conversation she had with her daughter. “Some people get sick,” she said. “Mommy raises money to find a cure for those people.” As the MMRA passes the $60 million mark, CEO Giusti uses the power of her MBA degree to become a powerful voice for thousands of silent victims.

Sources:

“Working Against the Clock for a Cure,” by Jane Gordon for The New York Times (PDF)
“On the Trail of a Cure,” by Suzanne Sorrrentino for The Advocate (PDF)

About the Author

Amelia Gray is a teacher and freelance writer in San Marcos, TX. Amelia earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Arizona State University.

Posted on November 10, 2006 at 12:34 PM

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