A Letter From Susan’s Family

While the world knew Susan Wojcicki as a visionary leader and CEO of YouTube, to us, she was family.

She was a devoted mother to five extraordinary children, a loving wife, sister, daughter, and a dear friend to many. She had a brilliant mind and believed deeply in the power of ideas, and even more, in the people behind them.

Above all, she was a champion of possibility. She believed that curiosity, courage, and commitment could overcome any challenge. That technology should serve humanity. That broken systems could be redesigned. And that tomorrow always holds the promise of a better day.

Susan passed away in 2024 from late-stage non-small cell lung cancer at the age of 56. Her diagnosis was unexpected and devastating. She had no symptoms, no smoking history, and no warning signs. Like so many families, we learned too late, when the chance for a cure had already slipped away.

Susan understood that her experience with lung cancer reflected a much larger, untold story that many other families had already experienced.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, claiming more lives than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. Yet it remains tragically misunderstood, heavily stigmatized, and severely underfunded. Susan believed we could do better and that we had an urgency and responsibility to try to change this trajectory.

With this vision, we are launching the Susan Wojcicki Foundation in memory of Susan and to change the course of lung cancer. This is work that we began already when Susan was still alive. We plan to focus on earlier detection and better diagnostics. Sustained investment could reverse the course of this disease and save millions of lives.

We are doing this in Susan’s name, and we invite you to join us in this work.

Susan believed in a future where no other family loses a loved one to lung cancer. Now, that future is ours to create.

With love,

Dennis, Anne, and Janet