Doctors participating in a Shark Tank competition with a Ted Talk sidebar?
That idea for engaged philanthropy is what Robert and Kitty Brunswick created with Hoag Innovators.
“We came up with this concept that combined a Ted Talk with a Shark Tank with a private equity investment meeting where we all sit down and hear from the doctors about new game-changing innovations,” Robert Brunswick, CEO of Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners, told the Business Journal.
Robert and Kitty Brunswick in 2017 started Hoag Innovators, which is part of the Hoag Foundation, the fundraising arm of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, the second-biggest hospital in Orange County.
The group has invested in a variety of ideas from Hoag doctors, from a machine to photograph moles to using artificial intelligence for advanced imaging.
The group’s attracted about 125 members, including 60 families.
“Some have their adult children involved because they like teaching philanthropy through this program and the children get to carry on family’s wishes,” Robert Brunswick said.