By Gabriela Escobar – Fellow, Grants and Programs
As my time as a Tom Ford Fellow at the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation (SFGHF) comes to a close, I’m filled with gratitude for the unique experiences and meaningful contributions this fellowship has allowed me to make. The Stanford University Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy, created in 2001, provides recent Stanford graduates with intensive, mentored experiences in domestic foundations to educate them about philanthropy’s role in society and encourage them to enter the field. The fellowship is generously supported by Susan Ford Dorsey’s Sand Hill Foundation and Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and celebrates the life of Tom Ford, whose legacy of service and leadership left a lasting impact on Stanford and beyond.
At the Foundation, I worked closely with incredible teams dedicated to advancing social medicine and predictive analytics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. My role primarily focused on managing a public-private fundraising portfolio, stewarding grantmaking cycles, and cultivating relationships with diverse donors to support critical initiatives. It was a deeply rewarding opportunity to witness firsthand how philanthropy can drive healthcare innovation and provide a safety net for underserved communities, reinforcing the power of well-targeted philanthropy to transform lives.
One of the highlights of this fellowship was the opportunity to work on socially adept interventions that pushed the boundaries of traditional healthcare delivery. Our team focused on supporting programs at the forefront of improving predictive analytics systems to better address patients’ needs and integrating social care into medical treatment. Engaging with donors and stakeholders to align their values with SFGHF’s mission—providing equitable healthcare access to all—was a transformative experience that solidified my belief in the power of philanthropy to shape the future of healthcare and help those most in need.
To conclude this incredible journey, I was thrilled to invite my Tom Ford Fellowship cohort to SFGHF for an end-of-year wrap-up and tour. It was exciting to share the space where impactful work takes place and to give my peers a firsthand look at the projects I’ve been involved in. The discussions we had about the intersection of healthcare, social determinants of health, and philanthropy were incredibly enriching, providing the perfect way to reflect on the year’s accomplishments.
As I move forward, this fellowship has reinforced my aspirations of becoming a medical doctor focused on community health. I am committed to working at the intersection of social care and medicine, ensuring that underserved populations have access to comprehensive healthcare that considers the full scope of their lived experiences. The Tom Ford Fellowship deepened my understanding of patient-centered health systems and equity, which are lessons I will carry into my medical training and a career dedicated to driving meaningful change in the communities that need it most.