Xie Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Xie Foundation’s grantmaking includes support of educational and athletic organizations.
IP TAKE: The Xie Foundation lacks transparency and keeps a low public profile, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. Tax records show, however, that the Xies typically prioritize a handful of organizations with which they maintain personal connections. New grantseekers will find it difficult to get on this funder’s radar, as it does not supply information about how to get in touch. Although, a mailing address and phone number are provided below.
PROFILE: Established in 2009, the Xie Foundation is steered by Fortinet co-founders Ken and Michael Xie. Ken Xie graduated with B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tsinghua University and an M.S. from Stanford University. He started his first network security company, SIS, in 1993, designing software firewalls while studying at Stanford University. He also started NetScreen, which sold to Juniper for $4 billion. He went on to co-found Fortinet, a security platform, with his brother, Michael, who graduated from Tsinghua University and the University of Manitoba. Michael was software director and architect for NetScreen. The foundation lacks transparency and does not maintain a public web presence, but tax filings suggest that the Xie Foundation supports educational and athletic organizations.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
Education is the Xie Foundation’s largest area of giving, by far. More than half of all grants to date have supported higher education. The Xies appear to prioritize their alma maters, including China’s Tsinghua University, where their parents were teachers, and Stanford University, where they fund an electrical engineering chair and have given over $54 million. They gave $22.3 million to the Stanford chapter of the Psi Chi the National Honor Society in Psychology in 2022 alone. They have also supported University of Miami and New York University.
The foundation’s K-12 grantees include the Pinewood School in Los Altos, California and the Sacred Hearth Schools of Atherton, California.
Through their foundation, the Xies have made small grants to athletic education organizations including the Asian American Tennis Foundation and East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring.
Important Granat Details
The Xie Foundation's grants range from $1,000 to almost $12,000,000, but the average amount is closer to $200,000. The foundation gave away slightly less than $25 million in a recent year.
Learn more about past grantmaking in the funder’s tax records. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals or LOIs.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
Xie Foundation
325 Sharon Park Dr., Ste. 802
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-496-7458
