Pat Stryker | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1956-04-06)April 6, 1956 (age 68) |
| Education | University of Northern Colorado (dropped out) |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Known for | Inheritance of one-third of the family shares inStryker Corporation |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Jon Stryker (brother) Ronda Stryker (sister)) Homer Stryker (grandfather) |
Patricia A. Stryker[1] (born April 6, 1956)[2] is an Americanbillionaire businessperson, philanthropist, and political activist. Stryker is the granddaughter ofHomer Stryker, founder ofStryker Corporation, amedical technology company.
Since the early 2000s, she has become more active in civic life. In 2001, she founded the Bohemian Foundation, which focuses on music, arts and the community through grantmaking, programs, and events. She donated $3 million to defeat a 2002 ballot initiative to limitbilingual education inColorado. In 2004, she gave $20 million toColorado State University, mostly to benefit its football team.
Stryker bought Sonoma's Sommer Vineyards in 1999, which she rebuilt, replanted, and rechristened as Stryker Sonoma.[3] It covers 32 acres (129,000 m²) inAlexander Valley,California, producer of classicvinifera varietiesBordeaux andZinfandel. In May 2016, she sold the winery to focus on her foundation work.[4]
As of 2021, Stryker ranks #340 on the Forbes Women 400.[5]
Patricia A. Stryker was born inKalamazoo, Michigan, on April 6, 1956. Stryker enrolled at theUniversity of Northern Colorado in Greeley, but did not complete a degree. In 1976, Stryker's father, Lee, died in an airplane accident in Wyoming. Four years later, in 1980, Stryker relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado, where she had attended summer camp as a child.[2]
Stryker has funded the Bohemian Foundation[6] which, in addition to national and international programs, funds music and other initiatives inLarimer County, Colorado, theFort Collins, Colorado area,[7] notably the annual Bohemian Nights at New West Fest.[8] She has also donated a substantial amount toColorado State University, which is located in Fort Collins.[6]
In 2006, Stryker gave $500,000 to theCoalition for Progress, a political action committee that donated heavily to support Democratic party candidates in Michigan elections.[9]
In 2008, Stryker gave $87,500 to the Presidential Inaugural Committee for President-Elect Barack Obama.[10]
Stryker donated $3 million to defeat a 2002 ballot initiative regardingbilingual education inColorado.[6]
Stryker donated $1.5 million toPriorities USA Action, a Super PAC supportingDemocratic presidential candidateHillary Clinton in 2016.[11] She was among the largest donors in the 2016 election.[12][13]
Stryker,Jared Polis,Tim Gill, andRutt Bridges are known in Colorado political circles as "The Four Horsemen" (aka "Gang of Four" or "The Four Millionaires") who have donated to liberal causes, fought against gerrymandering, and promoted progressive initiatives.[6][14] Significant political contributions from the four to favored Democratic candidates has played a role in electing a Democratic majority in Colorado's house and senate.[15][16] Stryker has been frequently represented at political meetings by Al Yates, former president of Colorado State University.[6]
According toNew York Times reporter Matt Bai, Stryker attended the April 2005 meeting of theDemocracy Alliance near Scottsdale, Arizona. Stryker along withGeorge Soros and other Democracy Alliance membersGail Furman; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics);John R. Hunting;Nicholas Hanauer; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein;Drummond Pike; real estate developer Robert Bowditch;Pioneer Hybrid International-heir and congressional candidateScott Wallace;Susie Tompkins Buell; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; andTaco Bell-heir Rob McKay, funded theSecretary of State Project, an American non-profit organisation, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process.[17] The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of StateDebra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of StateMark Ritchie re-elected.
Stryker is divorced, with three children, and lives inFort Collins, Colorado, US.[18]
In 2002 an initiative placed on the ballot by a group called English for the Children would have eliminated most bilingual programs in Colorado. Fearing the law would destroy her daughter's school, Stryker donated $3 million to the successful campaign to defeat the initiative. Her donation was widely credited with turning voters against it.
An hour south of Laramie, in Ft. Collins, lives medical equipment heiress Pat Stryker, who is, along with Gill, known in local political circles as one of 'The Four Millionaires.' (Actually Stryker is a billionaire; her brother Jon is gay and both give generously to gay causes.)
While Republicans made gains in most states across the country (especially the red ones), Democrats achieved majorities in both houses of the Colorado Legislature for the first time in forty years. It wouldn't have added up that way without this fearsome foursome.
In this decade, a group of liberal multimillionaires -- Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges, Jared Polis and Pat Stryker -- developed "the Colorado model," not only funding candidates, but setting up think tanks, advocacy groups and public relations operations designed to oust Republicans and install Democrats.