Born and raised in San Antonio Mary Velasquez Jimenez, Board Member, ThriveWell Cancer Foundation, lived in Germany for three years while growing up. Mary is the Regional Program Manager for Genentech BioOncology and has also worked for Caremark, Dentsply and Estee Lauder. She says Genentech has provided her with opportunities to serve on a variety of boards, which have helped her grow and learn from many great leaders. In Mary’s spare time she enjoys running with a running group, tasting different wines as part of a wine club and traveling to different tropical destinations with her husband and three children.
Do you have a favorite TV show, movie, or book?
My recent book i”Conversations Worth Having” was an excellent read.
Tell us about your family.
I’ve been married for 25 years to Charlie who consults in the aviation field and have 3 children John-Carlo (21) who attends UT McCombs Business School, Lorenzo (16), a senior at Johnson, and Isabella (15) who is attending STEM Academy.
What is your experience of cancer?
We lost a friend in second grade to Leukemia, then my sister in-law to brain cancer 14 years ago, and an aunt and uncle to lung cancer.
How did you become involved with ThriveWell?
I became involved through a previous role at Genentech where I had the opportunity to learn about the vision that Amy Lang, MD and Lynn Stahl believed our cancer community needed to improve outcomes for cancer patients to live longer and healthier lives. In my previous board position with Alamo City Cancer Council we supported Thrivewell’s Patient Assistance Program and Erin Ercoline, Executive Director, ThriveWellCancer Foundation spoke to us about Thrivewell’s successful program.
What do you enjoy most about serving?
Serving on the Thrivewell Board provides me with an opportunity to connect with other community leaders and find ways to make our community stronger. It allows me to leverage a variety of learning experiences and strengthen different skill sets.
Do you serve on other boards?
I currently serve as President for the Health Cell Board of Directors where our mission is to share/showcase interesting stories on different topics or companies of the healthcare sector in our community and Genentech Women’s Professionals Board in San Francisco which focuses on professional development.
What’s your personal and/or professional philosophy?
When your talents, passion and values contribute to some greater good personally or professionally great things happen.