Jews in the D
16 | OCTOBER 1 • 2020
style. He uses his moral per-
suasion to impart the impor-
tance of philanthropy in oth-
ers, and he has created wealth,
jobs and employment within
the firm and for vendors of the
firm to now have the capacity
to help advance the communi-
ty as well.”
Family has informed much of
what Gilbert does. “There are
a lot of people along the way
who should share in this award,
especially my wife,” he said.
Jennifer Gilbert is a serial
entrepreneur in her own right,
having founded interior design
companies Pophouse, Doodle
Home and Amber Engine. She
is president of NF Forward, a
neurofibromatosis charity, and
serves on multiple boards.
“I am so proud of the man
Dan is,” Jennifer said. “Of
course, he is known for his
impact as a businessman. But I
think his most important role
is within the walls of our own
home. He is a loving father
who provides an incredible
example of philanthropy and
using time and energy to make
the world a better place. Not
only for our kids, but for gen-
erations to come.”
The Gilbert children have
caught the business bug, as
well. Dan’
s son AJ recently
reached a million dollars in
sales with his own company,
Zuplift, which makes ethically
sourced branding and promo-
tional content.
The Gilbert Family
Foundation has also become
one of the largest donors in the
nation to advance treatments
around neurofibromatosis, an
issue the family has felt per-
sonally through their son Nick.
The foundation is “going to
take on more of a brand name
soon,” Gilbert said, “as we
promote the foundation and
it really gets involved in some
major projects.”
Joyce Keller is the foun-
dation’
s executive director
and has worked alongside
the Gilberts for more than
a decade. Though she said
medical research has been the
foundation’
s primary goal,
“we’
re now going deeper into
the other piece of our portfolio,
which is Detroit.”
The Gilberts also signed the
Giving Pledge in 2012, signaling
their commitment to donate the
majority of their wealth.
Dan said, “All the dollars
that come into the foundation
will dwarf what the foundation
itself has given out recently
because we didn’
t even know
the kind of assets that we’
re
going to fund it with very
soon.
“I would hope people will
think we are upholding Jewish
values,” Dan said, referring to
the phrase “whoever saves one
life, saves the world.”
In their teen years, Gary
remembers his brother tell-
ing him that he wanted to
own a sports team one day,
and saying, “When we’
re in
our 50s, there will be people
our age doing big things, so
it may as well be us.” Today,
Dan is majority owner of the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
“That shows you how much
of a ‘
sky’
s the limit’
guy he was
right from the start,” Gary said.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Dan credits Dr. Steve
Adamczyk, an emergency
medicine specialist, with saving
his life. The two knew each
other from coaching their sons’
basketball games. They were
together with their spouses the
night when Dan began to face
abnormal visual issues.
After a couple of hours of
convincing from Adamczyk,
Dan headed to the hospital.
Adamczyk, born and raised in
Bloomfield Hills, now works as
a full-time medical adviser to
Rock Ventures.
The experience has also
deepened Gilbert’
s perspective
on faith. “I wouldn’
t say I’
m a
very religious guy, but I believe
in spirituality and spirit and
all that,” he said. “When you
have what happened to me
happen, you start to really get
some perspective on that and
all the time to think your way
through things, so I would
say it’
s grown. I feel very, very
strongly that there’
s spiritual
existence out there everywhere.
You just have to figure out how
to tap into it.”
At the culmination of the
High Holiday season this fall,
it will be near the 500th day
since Dan raced, in the darkest
hours of the night, to the hos-
pital that May evening.
Dan, given the chance to have
more time with Jennifer and
children AJ, Nash, Nick, Grant
and Gracie, embraced a mindset
he’
s long articulated as an entre-
preneur. A value often learned
far-too-late by way too many:
Every second counts.
Time, not money, is the most
valuable commodity of all.
Time can never be
replaced.
continued from page 14
LEFT: Gilbert and James Chapman, CEO Plain Sight, April Anderson co-owner of Good Cakes & Bakes, a Demo Day winner. RIGHT: With Big Sean, a rapper/music artist from Detroit.