Throughout history there have been men and women who were described as forces of nature themselves. There are great leaders of nations and figures of industry, artists and pioneers in all of the various fields of life around the world. Dede Wilsey ascends to these ranks easily, but perhaps not in a way that many might have expected of a woman born into prosperity and married to some of the richest men in the United States. While it could be easy to claim that she would keep things for herself, this is not the way she has chosen to live her life and instead, Dede has set about to do something magnificent. She may not have the largest sums of money to build all sorts of things in her own name, but what she does have is the gut instinct for funding sources and the drive and distilled determination needed to construct massive projects which have the capacity to change the world one life at a time. A hospital here, an art museum there and once it is all added up one can easily see that Wilsey is indeed a woman of sound purpose and strident conviction who makes San Francisco a better city.

Not only does she do these works for her own city, one must also remember that it is more than San Francisco which benefits from these types of public works. Hospitals with proper care and excellent facilities can be used by patients not only from around the country, but from around the world. An art museum carries enough magnetism to draw folks from around the world, as well, to benefit from its poignant protection of incredible works of art that could not otherwise be in such safe and publicly viewable places. Dede Wilsey sees the value in the contributions of others that is required before one can truly contribute of themselves.