FACES OF PHILANTHROPY: GRACE TSAI
Grace Tsai is the co-founder and executive director of the Dragon Kim Foundation, a 2019 and 2022 Impact Giving grant recipient. She is a marketing professional with more than 15 years of experience managing consumer-focused brands. Aside from serving as executive director of the Dragon Kim Foundation, Grace utilizes her marketing experience to promote the organization and establish relationships with funders, volunteers and supporters. She loves spending time hiking with her dog, Tango, learning and growing with her Dragon Fellows, and doing anything with her daughter, Hannah.
We asked Grace a few questions about her philanthropic career. Check out her answers below!
What drew you to start working with nonprofits?
We started the Dragon Kim Foundation when we lost our son, Dragon, in 2015. We had all this love and grief, and wanted to — needed to — channel it in ways that were positive and could help others. We had always told our children that as students, it was their job to find and pursue what they love, so the Dragon Kim Foundation was started to enable teens to pursue their passions in service of helping others.
What are your goals for the Dragon Kim Foundation?
Hearing the stories of transformation from our teen leaders, our Dragon Fellows, makes all the work worthwhile. We long to grow the Foundation in order to reach even more teenagers – to be able to train our next generation in philanthropy and giving – and especially be able to give this training free of charge to young people that otherwise wouldn’t have these experiences. Our goal is to support 100 Fellowship projects and transform the lives of over 200 teen leaders every year.
Who or what inspires you?
So many answers to this question!
Beauty, poetry, art give me sustenance. People like the generous women of Impact Giving inspire me to continue to give my time and energy to helping others. I’m inspired by my kind and talented children, Hannah and Dragon.
In addition to the Dragon Kim Foundation, do you have a nonprofit or area of interest that you like to support?
I feel it’s critical to do what we can to stop the climate change that’s impacting our planet, and my heart breaks when I hear about the gun violence in America. In addition to training our next generation of leaders, these are two critical areas I support.
Which accomplishments — personal or professional — are you most proud of?
My most important accomplishment: Raising two good people.
