Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Lance's Amazing Journey


Lance Kawaguchi, CEO Magazine's "Not-For-Profit Executive of the Year," Traces His Journey from International Investment Banker to Global Cancer Philanthropist


When CEO Magazine announced last week that Lance Kawaguchi was named "Not-For-Profit Executive of the Year" for 2022, I was pleased, but not surprised. If I were asked to pick someone to run a non-profit organization, Lance would unquestionably be my first choice. 

There are plenty of smart, creative non-for-profit CEO's out there. But there are only a small handful of visionaries. As the leader of the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, Lance's work in the cancer arena has been a magnificent obsession. 

Lance has demonstrated a genuine and tireless compassion for the people he is working hard to help. He's given an enormous boost to the national and global cancer research communities and of course cancer patients and their families. He has provided new and real hope. 

Lance, who is a man with a sharp, self-deprecating wit, has been all over the world and is a terrific storyteller. But when it's time to work, he hunkers down. No small talk. No BS. No nonsense. His eyes are on the prize.

If you'd met Lance six years ago or before, you would have probably never imagined he would become one of the globe's most respected not-for-profit leaders. His back story is downright Dickensian, with success, pathos, joy and redemption. 

For 25 years, Lance was a global investment banker, traversing the world many times over and making a fortune. He wasn't exactly Ebenezer Scrooge, but he certainly wasn't thinking much about charity. 

But when his mom, Katherine Kawaguchi, a beloved school teacher for more than 40 years, was dying of cancer, she told her son that he needed to become a better person and do something more meaningful with his life and his money. 

With tears in his eyes, Lance absorbed every word. He took the blows. And when she died of cancer in 2016, he honored her wishes in spectacular fashion, and continues to do the same.

The Great Unknown

Lance instinctively knew the not-for-profit world would be demonstrably different than what he was used to. But he has an innate ability to adjust on the fly, shut out the outside noise, and get to work. It's the reason why he was such a successful leader in the high-stakes, high-wire world of investment banking, and it has served him well in his new role. 

"It was an enormous adjustment. But I love challenges," he said in an interview with The Reno Dispatch. "When I was in banking, my office in London was an 800-square-foot space on the 27th floor. When I came to the not-for-profit in Australia, I didn't even have an office. I held all my meetings in a Vietnamese restaurant. We had done a 180, from a massive office to no office. But the food at the restaurant was great and they loved me."

For the first six months, many people were skeptical that Lance could turn things around. 

"I had so many things going against me," he said. "I just kept saying to everyone, 'Just stay with me and trust the process'. Two global recruiters told me that I would not fit at a not-for-profit. They worried that I was going to force too much positive change too quickly."

But leadership is leadership. The tenets of success are virtually the same no matter what industry you're in. Fueled by the memory of his mom, and his own burgeoning compassion, Lance hit the ground running, learning the ropes and identifying the players and the pretenders. 

"Everyone told me not to do it. The organization was a mess. But if you tell me not to do something, I am gonna do it. What better way to show my worth? I had everything going against me," he said.

In Lance's hands, the organization went from a demonstrably dysfunctional workplace to an ideal one where people trust each other and everyone works in unison for the same worthy cause. 

"I love the fact that the community left us, and then they all came back. Everyone told me not to take the job, that it was dysfunctional, that there was too much damage," he said.

Raising Millions Worldwide for Cancer Research

Lance decided early on that brain cancer would be a priority in his new career because it affects so many young people and because it's so difficult to treat. He has already raised millions to fund new cancer research in brain cancer, and other cancers as well. 

His goals are big but simple: Find better, less toxic treatments for cancer, support early detection, and ultimately find cures. 

He has dedicated his life to this mantra.

Lance is not only CEO of the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation (CBCF), he's also now a Board Member of the National Foundation for Cancer Research, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asian Fund for Cancer Research, and Strategic Advisor to the AIM-HU Accelerator Fund.

In his time as CEO at CBCF, Lance has increased net profitability and pivoted to digital offerings to engage communities in Australia and internationally. He launched the world's largest brain cancer-dedicated Clinical Accelerator program to support early-stage biotech companies to take innovative therapeutics from the lab to clinical trials to the clinic. 

And that in fact may be his most brilliant move: Embracing the biotech industry. There is strength in numbers, and there are many innovative cancer scientists in the biotech world who are just waiting for support. 

This includes executives in the relatively new but booming liquid biopsy sector. Liquid biopsies are simply blood tests that identify biomarkers in the blood. These biomarkers can tell us if a person has cancer and what type of cancer, even in very early stages, which is key for survival. 

These tests are less invasive than traditional screenings. It's just a simple blood draw. 

Lance is dedicated to learning more about biotech companies who are working in the cancer space, and about the newest treatments and clinical trials worldwide. 

For example, CBCF led the critical funding to bring the historic brain cancer GBM Agile to Australia with the Foundation's largest-ever investment of $8 million. 

GBM Agile is a group of more than 130 oncologists, pathologists, neurosurgeons, imagers, advocates and researchers from academia, industry and government that have been working collectively since 2015 to design a new type of randomized trial that will further enhance the way therapies are identified for brain cancer. 

This trial will give Australia's cancer patients access to new, cutting-edge therapies that were previously unavailable in the region. 

Only The Beginning

Lance clearly had a deep reserve of compassion that he kept close to the vest in his former career. His mom knew this would eventually make its way to the surface. And we are all thankful that it did. 

The truth is that just beneath the confident, go-getter personality there is a man who cares deeply about those who are suffering. He gets emotional when he talks about his own family and about young people with cancer. 

"I always had a soft spot for kids with cancer," he says. "My greatest skill now is just being honest and getting stuff done. My title or previous success doesn't matter now."

At a 6-year-old cancer patient's recent birthday celebration, Lance surprised the boy with a Qatar World Cup soccer jersey and Pokemon. 

"We also gave him his very own glow stick party when he was undergoing treatment," Lance said. "The nurses used glow sticks in the hospital so that he wouldn't be scared."

Lance also surprised a woman with cancer at a recent walk and had everyone rally around her to sing happy birthday.

"She only had two more weeks to live, and she was in a motorized wheelchair," Lance said. "Just meeting people like this is a privilege. All the other stuff just doesn't matter. What's important is what you have done to serve others. No matter how tired you are, someone has it worse than you."

Memorable Acceptance Speech

Graciously and poignantly accepting the award for Not-For-Profit Executive of the Year, Lance stated, "I'm deeply honored to be recognized for my work as CEO of Cure Brain Cancer Foundation. I left my lucrative career in investment banking to join the not-for-profit sector after my mother passed away to cancer. I had then made a pledge to her that I would give back to the community and strive to help find a cure."

Lance continued with a vow that he would continue to honor all his commitments to the cancer community by building networks to collaborate globally and navigating the intricacies of the sector.

"I don't believe failure is an option, cancer has no boundaries, and I am here to give it my all to find new opportunities for treatments and innovations that will increase the survival rate and quality of life of those impacted," he said.

Lance concluded the powerful speech by stating, "My journey over the past year has been the most rewarding of my life, and I encourage you all to join the non-for-profit sector and do your part."


Friday, November 18, 2022

The Reno Dispatch Garners Three More Prestigious Awards For Our Global Journalism

The San Diego Press Club continues to shine. One of the largest and most positively productive journalism organizations in the United States, the San Diego Press Club is a bastion of quality journalism and camaraderie. 

The organization, of which I am a proud and longstanding member, has been around for nearly 50 years and is bigger and better than ever. But in my view, journalism has never been more important than it is now. 

Our Club is one of the largest of its kind, with nearly 400 members in the news communications field.

I was honored to have won three major awards this year for this global news site, The Reno Dispatch

I also proudly earned three awards for my work with Healthline.

The Reno Dispatch has now garnered more than 45 major journalism and writing awards since we created the news site a decade ago. Thank you to everyone who reads and supports The Reno Dispatch:


 
Online and Daily newspapers: General News 
First Place - Jamie Reno, “Nursing Home Staffing Shortages: What to Know Before Putting a Family Member in a Facility” - Healthline 

Online and Daily newspapers: Health & Medicine 
First Place - Jamie Reno, “How New Blood Tests May Be Able to Detect Cancer Earlier and Easier” - Healthline

Online and Daily newspapers: Entertainment Reporting 
Third Place - Jamie Reno, “EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Rock and Roll Troubador Jim Messina Continues to Shine” - The Reno Dispatch

Online and Daily newspapers: Political/Government 
Third Place - Jamie Reno, “Exclusive: San Diego's 9/11 Terror Ring” - The Reno Dispatch 

Online and Daily newspapers: Science/Technology/Biotech 
Second Place - Jamie Reno, “This New Test Can Detect 50 Types of Cancer from a Single Blood Draw" -  Healthline 

Online and Daily newspapers: Breaking News 
Third Place - Jamie Reno, “Breaking News: New Study Shows That Most Blood Cancer Patients Benefit From Third COVID-19 Vaccine” - The Reno Dispatch 


 

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Concert Review: Legendary Band The Who Defies Time

There are countless time travel-themed films such as "Back to the Future," "Interstellar" and "The Terminator," and many acclaimed time travel-themed books such as "Slaughterhouse Five," "Kindred" and "A Wrinkle in Time." Traveling through time is clearly a universally popular notion. But I always thought it was a purely fictional enterprise. After seeing The Who on Saturday night, I'm not so sure.

The legendary rock band's lead singer, Roger Daltrey, 78, and lead guitarist and songwriter, Pete Townshend, 77, were in impossibly good form when they performed with a full orchestra at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. I was flabbergasted by how youthful they looked and sounded. It literally felt as if they were visiting us from another time.
 
Roger is singing as powerfully and with as much nuance as he did 40 years ago. Maybe even more so. Pete is singing and playing with the energy and passion of a teenager, and still does those trademark windmills. And that alone is inconceivable. Both of these living legends have tremendous energy on stage. It borders on the supernatural.  
 
The most memorable scream in rock and roll history is of course Roger's joyously blood-curdling wail near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again." I did not expect him to reach the same emotional, eardrum-shattering level as he did back in the day. But he did. It was bloody brilliant!

It was the same raw, gut-punching, emotional roar that I heard the first time I listened to the song from "Who's Next," which could very well be the greatest rock album of them all. I was ten years old when I first heard that record. It is now written into my DNA.

There are basically three untouchables in the history of rock and roll. Three bands who tower above the rest in terms of, well, greatness. There is no real need to name them, but of course they are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who. And The Who is the only one of the three that is currently active. 

Yes, original drummer Keith Moon and original bass player John Entwistle are both sadly no longer with us. But Roger and Pete keep the fire burning. 

Townshend's energy belies time and physics. I'd have been happy just to hear these guys sing and play. But what I did not expect was how powerfully and superbly they sang and played, and how much visible, palpable joy they felt as they performed.

With a superb orchestra behind them, the band opened with several songs from "Tommy," the iconic rock opera which of course was made into a wild and wildly acclaimed film of the same name directed by Ken Russell. 

Then the orchestra departed, and the band continued to rock with such favorites as "You Better You Bet," "The Seeker," "Won't Get Fooled Again" (as mentioned above) and "Behind Blue Eyes." 

When the orchestra returned, the band played a few songs from "Quadrophenia," the group's other rock opera and concept album that has been called the "anti-musical," but whose songs are genius. 

They ended the show with two of their epic best: "Love, Reign O'er Me" and "Baba O'Riley," which many refer to as "Teenage Wasteland." 

I guess we all get more sentimental as we grow older. We all begin to sense our own mortality, though I try not to dwell on that. I'm not ashamed to say that I had tears of joy in my eyes for a good portion of the show. 

Music has been a huge part of my life since I can remember. I have an absurdly clear memory of myself at age 5 flipping over plastic buckets and kitchen pans to use as a drum set as I played along with the "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles. And of course I remember vividly when I bought my first guitar at age 14. 

Besides the love of my family and friends, there has been no greater joy in my life than music. And getting an opportunity to see these masters play at such a high level this late in their careers is touching, reassuring and amazing. 

Thank you Roger and Pete for all the music you have given given the world. And thanks, too, for the amazing work you have been doing for teen and young adult cancer patients for the last 30 years with the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK and for the last 10 years in America with Teen Cancer America

The band is giving $2 per ticket to Teen Cancer America on the tour. That’s worth over $400,000 to the charity and makes every fan feel like they are helping young people with cancer.  

The Who rocks, and cares!