Jeff and Erica Lawson

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Twilio

FUNDING AREAS: Human Services

OVERVIEW: Jeff and Erica Lawson do not appear to yet have a charitable vehicle. They are recent Giving Pledge signatories. Human services and aiding the poor appears to be an interest.

BACKGROUND: Born and raised in Detoit, Jeff Lawson graduated from University of Michigan. He started an events video business in middle school, pulling in as much as $5,000 some weekends filming weddings. He was the first CTO of StubHub and worked at Amazon after college. In 2008, he co-founded Twilio, which provides tools that allow developers to build voice, video or messaging functions into any Web or mobile apps.

ISSUES:

HUMAN SERVICES: In their Giving Pledge letter, the Lawsons write that “we believe that every individual is entitled to health, opportunity and respect - regardless of the color of their skin, the location of their community, how they choose to worship, or whom they choose to love. We intend to leverage our good fortune to work towards the achievement of this vision.”

Lawson recently made a $1 million donation to fund homeless services in San Francisco. The donation was made through Twilio.org, Twilio's charitable arm, which supports nonprofits and social enterprises. Twilio.org has also supported places like OpenGov Foundation, Lesbians Who Tech, and Crisis Text Line. The couple has also given steady support to Tipping Point Community of late, a grant-making organization aiming to break the cycle of poverty in the Bay Area.

LOOKING FORWARD: Lawson is only in his 40s and very much engaged in business, but should be watched for greater giving down the line.

LINK: Twilio.org