Jeff and Karen Jordan
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Tech executive; Andreessen Horowitz
FUNDING AREAS: Health, Education and Youth, Animals and Environment, Human Services and Humanitarian.
OVERVIEW: Jeff Jordan and his wife Karen move their philanthropy through the California-based Fat Tire Foundation, whose grantmaking totaled around $1 million in a recent year. This funder names type 1 diabetes, education, conservation and the Bay Area as funding priorities. The couple also supports their alma mater, Stanford University.
BACKGROUND: Jeff Jordan received a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and an MBA from Stanford University. He worked as senior vice president of finance for Disney Stores at the Walt Disney Company and held executive positions at companies including Hollywood Entertainment, Reel.com, eBay and OpenTable. Jordan is a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Karen Jordan, who also earned an MBA from Stanford, has worked in investment banking. She currently chairs the research committee of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and has served on the boards of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, the Stanford GSB Alumni Association and the Stanford Healthcare Community Council.
ISSUES:
HEALTH: The Fat Tire Foundation’s grantmaking for health prioritizes research and treatments for type 1 diabetes. Karen has held several leadership positions at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and at Carb DM, a nonprofit that “fosters connections among people with diabetes, their loved ones, and medical professionals.” Other grantees in the area of health include the American Heart Association, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Pacific Stroke Association and Out of the Darkness, which deals with suicide prevention.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Jeff and Karen Jordan provide ongoing support to their mutual alma mater, Stanford University. Other education grantmaking focuses on creating economic opportunity for underserved students, with most grants serving organizations in the Bay Area. Past grantees include the Portola Valley School Foundation, Lick-Wilmerding High School, the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula and the Greater Good Science Center, a UC Berkeley outfit that studies and teaches “skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.”
ANIMALS & ENVIRONMENT: The Jordans do not name specific goals for their funding in this area, but past grants have gone to the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, the Wolf Conservation Center, the World Wildlife Fund and Acterra.
HUMAN SERVICES & HUMANITARIAN: Via their foundation, the Jordan’s have made grants to the Bay Area’s Second Harvest Food Bank, Human Rights Watch and the Ecumenical Hunger Program.
LOOKING FORWARD: Jordan is only in his 50s and still very much engaged in business. The Fat Tire Foundation’s grantmaking has increased over the past several years.
CONTACT:
The Fat Tire Foundation
50 Paso del Arroyo
Portola Valley, CA 94028
(650) 529-0345
LINK:
