“My life has been shaped by the willingness of others,” tech entrepreneur Rusty Rueff says. “If people hadn't taken the time to help me, I wouldn't be where I am today. So it's really important to me to do the same.”
We think about giving back like planting seeds.
Patti Rueff, Rusty's wife, agrees. “I got the volunteer gene from my mother, who taught me you should always give back, whether with your time or your money,” she says. “She didn't stop volunteering until she turned 82!”
After successful corporate careers that took them all over the world, the Hillsborough residents now focus on making a difference.
“We think about giving back like planting seeds,” Rusty says. “We don't always know what will sprout when we make a contribution, but we've learned if you nurture it, something good will grow.”
The Rueffs have planted many generous "seeds," including their recent $1 million gift to Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation. “There's really no place better to invest than in the core of your own community,” Patti says.
Finding Success
Despite his high-tech resume, including serving as CEO of digital music company SNOCAP and as executive vice president of human resources for the video gaming company Electronic Arts (EA), Rusty took an untraditional path to tech industry success.
Early on, he followed in the footsteps of his father, who gave Rusty his "funky" name in the hopes he'd become a radio disc jockey like him. And at first Rusty did, working as an on-air personality for six years.
But after completing his graduate degree at Purdue University, Rusty accepted a position with the Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies. “I picked the job because they were going to train me, and I thought that was so cool,” he says with a laugh.
Two years later, he went to PepsiCo, where he worked for a decade. In 1998, he moved to the Bay Area to join EA. A "life-changing" experience, his seven years there opened many doors into the tech world. Now, Rusty writes two blogs and serves on five corporate boards, including Glassdoor.com. He also invests in a variety of startup companies and advises young entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Patti started her career as a secretary in Manhattan. She joined PepsiCo in 1974 where she worked for 24 years, serving as the executive assistant to the chairman of the board for 20 years.
In 1991, Patti and Rusty met when they were both working at Frito-Lay (a PepsiCo company) – they've been married for 19 years. After the couple moved to the Bay Area, Patti continued to work for PepsiCo as a consultant, traveling some 100 days a year to organize executive trainings and company meetings in destinations ranging from Africa to Russia.
“I had friends all over the world,” she says, “but I didn't know anyone in my new neighborhood.”
Giving Back
To connect with her local community, in 2001 Patti joined the Mills-Peninsula Women's Health Council, a group she's been active in ever since.
“We put on coffee talks to help educate the community, and these eventually became the Women's Health Luncheons,” she says. “I've watched them grow from 200 people to 1,200, and it's been unbelievably gratifying.”
Similarly, Rusty has dedicated much of his time to philanthropic roles, including as chairman of the GRAMMY Foundation and trustee president of the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.).
In perhaps one of his most time-consuming volunteer positions, Rusty served as coordinating national co-chair for Technology for Obama.
By Election Day, “we'd recruited nearly 10,000 members and raised more than $26 million for the President,” he says. “It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”
Both Patti and Rusty also serve as teachers in the Children's Ministry at the church they attend in San Francisco.
The Rueff’s gift to Mills-Peninsula was personal.
“We wanted to invest in our community and help improve healthcare close to home,” says Patti. “I love the free mammogram program for women in need at Mills-Peninsula, and I felt that if our resources could help pay for equipment, then Mills-Peninsula could use more of their resources to give back to the community.”
“We're so impressed with the new hospital,” adds Rusty. “You don't have to go to San Francisco or Stanford for truly state-of-the art care. It's just mind-boggling to go to Mills-Peninsula and receive such personal care from expert doctors and nurses who have all the latest technology. Seeing how fabulous it is, we both thought, how can we not do this?”