Ginny Gilder rowed at Yale, where she was All-Ivy twice. As a freshman she was part of the famed Yale women’s crew that protested the lack of equal facilities for women by participating in a “crew strip.” Gilder won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics, but also had been a member of the ill-fated 1980 US Olympic team. She was third at the 1983 World Championships in single sculls, and also won the women’s elite singles at the Head of the Charles in 1982-84.
After college, Gilder began a career in investments, starting several businesses and non-profits. She formed her own investment firm and was also President of her family’s philanthropic endeavors, which invested in world-wide projects promoting social justice. She started Washington Works, a non-profit to help welfare recipients obtain employment and was the group’s first Executive Director, and was also a co-founder and board member of the Seattle Girl’s School. In 2008 Gilder joined with two other successful businesswomen (Lisa Brummel and Dawn Trudeau) to form Force 10 Hoops LLC, which bought the Seattle Storm women’s team in the WNBA.
United States