Why We Give: Donna Molby and OmniVita

‘We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.’ Those are the words by which Donna Molby — President, Chief Executive Officer, Senior Wealth Advisor and owner of OmniVita Custom Wealth Management — lives. “I used to have one of those big posters on a wall in my office and it's kind of been my personal motto,” says Donna. “It’s my ingrained mindset.”

Putting the ‘A’ in STEAM

Last year, that mindset led to OmniVita coming on board as a presenting partner for Spectacle, National Geographic’s stunning photography exhibition at Science World. It was a serendipitous partnership, enabling Science World to lean into the ‘A’ of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & design, and math).

The exhibition, inspired by the book SPECTACLE: Rare and Astonishing Photographs, featured striking images shot by some of the world’s finest photographers of sights as remarkable as they are unforgettable.

“I think that public art is something that should be supported,” says Donna. “It's harder for organizations to raise money for art type things. It's not given as much importance in our society as some of the other things and, therefore, I feel it needs a little bit more from people who have an interest in art.”

While Donna herself is not an artist, she is good friends with many of them. “I am an art collector,” says Donna, who is also on the Board of Capture Photography Festival. “I collect photography, as well as sculpture and other forms of visual art.”

A personal connection to Science World

For Donna, who volunteered as a young adult at Expo 86, Science World “holds particular joy.” (The iconic dome was originally built as part Expo 86 and was repurposed into a science centre in 1989.) Donna’s three daughters grew up visiting Science World and even had sleepovers here. Nowadays, Donna often brings her five grandchildren to exhibitions, including Spectacle. “They had a blast there — we had a hard time getting the one little guy to leave!”

When asked about any other special memories from Science World, Donna smiles. “My youngest daughter Mishaela got married [on the Green Roof] in 2021,” she says. “That’s my favourite memory.” Today, Mishaela works alongside her mother as a senior associate at OmniVita. The Vancouver-based firm, which Donna founded in 2016, provides customized, client-driven services for individuals, their businesses, and their families.

As a wealth advisor, explains Donna, a lot of the companies she researches are finding new and innovative ways to use AI. “To enhance human capability,” she says, “particularly in things like medical diagnostics and that sort of thing. I find that particularly exciting because it's augmenting human ability.”

One of Science World’s content themes is Human Health, an area which is ripe for AI innovation as Donna tells it. “Companies are creating medical diagnostic equipment, for example, that integrate AI to read images.”

British Columbia, with its world-class life sciences sector, is poised to take advantage of these advances and — thanks to donors like Donna — Science World is here to inspire and create the future nerds who’ll do exactly that.

Looking ahead

“Science World is a fun way to educate young people about arts and science,” says Donna. “It engages young children in a way that they find exciting and fun. That, to me, is important.”

Speaking of young people, Science World has recently launched its most ambitious fundraising campaign yet — The Future is Nerdy — which will boost STEAM programming by 50 per cent and inspire one million future nerds to follow their curiosity. So, what gives Donna hope for the future?

“My children, my grandchildren, the ensuing generations,” she says.  “I'm not one of those people that's pessimistic about the future, that's not my general disposition.”

Donna laughs. “I come from the ‘glass half full’ team!”