two men shaking hands in front of columns

Impact through purposeful action

The promises we keep today lay the foundation for tomorrow — the journey starts now.

Rare Disease

Rare disease, and in particular cerebroretinal vasculopathy (CRV), is acutely personal for my family, having lost two beloved family members to this devastating illness. The first member of the family to succumb to CRV was David Lending, Ellen’s father, who died at the young age of 52 in 1989. At the time, little was known about CRV, and we ourselves were clueless as to what was happening to him. It was as if all of a sudden his vision was failing, he was limping, and he seemed distant, which was very much unlike him. A little over ten years later, when Ellen was in her early 40s, she too began to exhibit inexplicable signs that something was off. She started to forget simple words and was having trouble with her vision. We saw experts around the country and were unable to figure out what was happening to Ellen until we came to the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she was diagnosed with the genetic disorder that leads to the development of CRV. Dr. John P. Atkinson was part of the research team that originally identified the rare blood vessel disease in 1988 and then the genetic defect that is responsible for CRV in 2007.

Diversity and Racial Equality

My real wake-up call to racial inequality and the lack of diversity in my industry occurred on the very first day I opened the Clayco office in St. Louis. It was in a disadvantaged part of town and an 11-year-old African-American boy approached me asking for a job. When I told him that he should be in school, he replied that he needed to be taking care of his family, which not only made me sharply aware of the reality of inequality, but also sparked my lifelong engagement with these issues through Clayco and my personal efforts.

Amy Sherald, Baltimore

Source: Amy Sherald Amy Sherald is a Baltimore-based painter who is known for her portraits that are painted in her signature grayscale, and set against simplistic, yet vibrant backgrounds. Sherald grew up in Georgia, where the performative aspects of race and Southernness influenced not only her concept of identity, but also her subject matter as an artist. But her work is not just about identity, it is also about the inclusion of Black people in mainstream art in a universal way that does not focus solely on the black or brownness of skin, therefore challenging assumptions about blackness and its representation in art.

Impact

The key choices we make in this life

Some of the key choices that we get to make in this life are the things we prioritize, both with our finances and with our energy and efforts.

Over the course of my life, my priorities have shifted immensely, and I now spend a large amount of my time focusing on the work that our foundation is doing, as well as being engaged in impactful community efforts. The majority of the work that we are a part of is aimed at issues directly affecting my family and the Clayco community.