Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Facebook
FUNDING AREAS: Health, Economic Development, Marriage Equality, Drug Policy Reform, Politics
OVERVIEW: In 2011, Dustin Moskovitz turned his eye toward philanthropy, co-founding the Good Ventures Foundation, a public charity created in partnership with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), with his wife, Cari Tuna. With the guidance of SVCF, the couple launched the Good Ventures Foundation in 2012, along with Good Ventures LLC, a for-profit investment firm that donates its earnings back to the Good Ventures Foundation.
BACKGROUND: Dustin Moskovitz ranks as the world's youngest self-made billionaire. After leaving Facebook, where he served first as chief technology officer and later as VP of engineering, in 2008, Moskovitz co-founded Asana, a web platform that helps businesses plan, organize, and stay in sync.
Cari Tuna received her B.A. from Yale University. She was once a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. She now serves as the President of the Open Philanthropy Project and the Good Ventures Foundation, philanthropic organizations through which she and her husband Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder of Facebook and Asana) aim to do as much good as they can.
ISSUES:
HEALTH: Good Ventures Foundation has given major support to health initiatives in developing countries, where a relatively small amount of capital can make a major difference in measurable outcomes. Good Ventures has made major contributions to organizations such as Against Malaria, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, and Population Services International. It has also supported nutrition organizations such as the Iodine Global Network and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition's Universal Salt Iodization program.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Good Ventures Foundation has made major contributions to organizations such as Give Directly and the Center for Global Development. Give Directly, one the foundation's largest grantees, gives cash directly to poor families in developing countries.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Through Good Ventures, Moskovitz has offered general support to, and made media buys for, Freedom to Marry. The decision to support this organization was influenced by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes' partner, Sean Eldridge, who supports many LGBT advocacy groups and is a senior advisor for Freedom to Marry.
REFORM OF DRUG POLICY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Moskovitz believes in advocating for drug-related policies in the United States and abroad that are less punitive, more rational and evidenced-based, and more focused on improving public health, increasing access to treatment for drug abusers, and respecting personal freedom. Good Ventures Foundation cites growing support for drug policy reform and underfunding in this area as key factors in its decision to fund organizations focusing on this issue. It also provides major funding for criminal justice reform more broadly.
Good Ventures’ Criminal Justice Program was spun off into its own entity, Just Impact, in late 2021. Billed as a “a criminal justice reform advisory group and fund that is focused on building the power and influence of highly strategic, directly-impacted leaders and their allies to create transformative change from the ground up,” Just Impact was launched with $50 million in seed funding from Open Philanthropy, spread over 3.5 years.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Through Open Philanthropy, Moskovitz gave $900,000 to scientists from Africa, Asia and South America to study the effects of reflecting sunlight to cool the Earth and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
LOOKING FORWARD: Moskovitz and Tuna have a large fortune to give away and will be engaged in high-level philanthropy for many years to come. The Good Ventures Foundation’s agenda keeps evolving. Examine its website to keep track of the foundation and the Open Philanthropy Project.
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