Vivienne Hsu, Founder and CEO of LENDonate, shared the story behind her title with us on April 16, 2025.
Lend? Donate? Through LENDonate, you can do either or both. Founder and CEO Vivienne Hsu came up with the concept after seeing a need for capital to flow more freely into the non-profit sector. How did she get her idea off the ground? What personal and professional experiences shaped her vision?
We retraced Hsu’s path to entrepreneurship by exploring her roots in Hong Kong, ability to overcome language barriers, and commitment to faith.
Watch the interview on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcasting app!
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Prior to becoming a full-time social entrepreneur, Vivienne was Senior Vice President at U.S. Trust, where she advised clients on complex financial matters. She served as a Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager for Charles Schwab Investment Management, where she oversaw its active equity strategies and was the lead portfolio manager for the Schwab Hedged Equity Fund. Under her leadership, the firm launched three new funds which garnered a total of $500 million at launch. Prior to that, she was Vice President and Portfolio Manager at American Century Investments, where she co-managed mutual funds that totaled more than $10 billion. Vivienne has also served as an investment risk consultant at MSCI Barra and performed pension actuarial work on retirement plans.
She is on the boards of the Los Altos Community Foundation, How Women Lead, and Aeris Insights. In 2011-12, Vivienne volunteered full time as development director at the Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, fundraising and cultivating corporate relationships. She has also been an active member of her church since 1987 and has led 3 successful capital campaigns ($5m+ total), along with holding many other volunteer positions.
She received her MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also received an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics. She is a CFA® charterholder.