Note: The following appears in the SMU football gameday program.
Dabo Swinney has had a considerable impact on the Clemson community and the Upstate of South Carolina. The two national championships and nine ACC titles on the gridiron have been well documented. That success has led to a significant economic boost to the area as well. Longtime Clemson fans who return to campus for games are flabbergasted by the growth of businesses and housing options in the last 17 years.
But if you ask Swinney and his wife, Kathleen, the most significant impact they have had on the Upstate communities, it has been through Dabo’s All In Team Foundation.
The mission of Dabo’s All In Team Foundation is to raise awareness of critical education and health issues in order to change the lives of people across South Carolina. The foundation’s focus areas include four major areas:
• Breast cancer prevention, research, technology and early detection• The Family Effect organization• Clemson’s Call Me MiSTER program• ClemsonLIFE program
In addition to its focus areas, Dabo’s All In Team Foundation has a grant program to provide other South Carolina-based organizations monetary support in order to execute projects that fit within the foundation’s mission.
“Soon after Dabo was named the full-time head coach in 2009, he realized he had a platform to make a positive impact on the community,” said Kathleen. “Dabo asked me, what are we passionate about?”
It did not take long for them to reach an answer.
Kathleen’s sister, Lisa, had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. She beat it, but tests revealed she had the BRCA gene. Women with this gene have a 90-percent chance of getting breast cancer at some point.
“When my sister, Lisa, had the BRCA gene, I was tested and I also had it, as did my younger sister, Ann. After doctors told us we would eventually get breast cancer, Ann and I both had a double mastectomy. That surgery reduces your chance of getting it from the BRCA gene to one percent.”
The cancer returned and metastasized in Lisa’s brain and lungs. She died in April 2014 at age 49. Kathleen and Ann are healthy today.
“My sister, Lisa, saved my (and Ann’s) life.”
In 2025, Dabo’s All In Team Foundation will provide grants of more than $1.7 million to its focus areas and grant programs. That will bring the total distributed to over $14 million since the foundation began in full force in 2010.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and that has always been a main focus of Dabo’s All In Team Foundation. Each year, Dabo and Kathleen serve as hosts of the Dabo Swinney Ladies Clinic. In 2025, over 1,100 ladies attended and $250,000 was raised to help the cause to eradicate breast cancer in South Carolina.
Over the years, the foundation has donated over $2.5 million to local hospitals, research teams and organizations focused on breast cancer prevention, research, technology and early detection.
Since 2012, Dabo’s All In Team Foundation has partnered with Bon Secours St. Francis Foundation and Pearlie Harris Center for Breast Health to provide funding for “Big Pink,” the St. Francis mobile mammography coach that travels through Oconee, Pickens, Anderson and Greenville Counties providing mammograms to the underserved and underinsured.
Lead gifts from Dabo’s All In Team Foundation of over $750,000 provided new mobile mammography coaches that rolled out in 2020 and 2023, respectively. In 2026, a third vehicle will be released to serve the Lakeland region of South Carolina and will be owned and operated by Self Regional Healthcare of Greenwood.
“I hope all the people who attended the ladies clinic and see that bus will know they had a big part in making it available,” said Kathleen.
This past August, the board of directors of Dabo’s All In Team Foundation agreed to contribute $350,000 to bring Bon Secours St. Francis Health Systems’ brand-new Comprehensive Breast Health Clinic to life.
Dabo’s All In Team Foundation is in its 11th year partnering with local radio station, 105.5 FM “The Roar,” for the “Tigers for Tatas” campaign, a month-long schedule of broadcasts sponsored by Estes Heating & Air. The campaign raises money and awareness for breast cancer prevention and patients in the Upstate by accepting donations in exchange for unique t-shirts, wristbands, hats and more.
This year, “Tigers for Tatas” will exceed the $750,000 mark in donations to Dabo’s All In Team Foundation.
“It didn’t take long for our listeners to get behind the project, because the public trusts Dabo and his foundation,” said Ben Milstead, station manager. “Now, we are about to reach $750,000 in total donations over the years. Every dollar goes to the foundation.
“This month, we will have 25 remotes throughout the Upstate. Walt Deptula’s program throughout the month holds daily on-air auctions for high-value items. It has been very successful.
“Hands down, this is the most rewarding project I have been involved with at the station, and everyone is 100 percent behind it.”
“Dabo and I can’t thank everyone at ‘The Roar’ enough,” added Kathleen. “They are passionate about helping in the fight against breast cancer.”
