James and Krista Sorenson

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder of Sorenson Media, Cofounder of Sorenson Capital

FUNDING AREAS: Global development, global health, WASH, climate change and clean energy, higher education

OVERVIEW: James Lee Sorenson and his wife, Krista, do their grantmaking through the Sorenson Impact Foundation, which takes an investment approach in its grantmaking. In its three primary funding areas, the foundation supports projects that have "measurable impact," are sustainable and create positive change. Grantmaking involves anti-poverty, education, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and more. The foundation also makes investments in for-profit social enterprises. Sorenson gave $13 million to David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah to create the James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center.

BACKGROUND: The son of late billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson, James Lee Sorenson graduated from University of Utah. In 1995, Sorenson founded Sorenson Media, a leader in video encoding and streaming tools. Sorenson Media has been instrumental in bringing internet video to Quicktime and Sorenson Media's encoding technology has been used for website trailers for Disney, Lucasfilm, MGM, and Paramount. Sorenson also co-founded Sorenson Capital.

ISSUES

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: The Sorenson Impact Foundation has supported “companies that have developed scalable, innovative and potentially disruptive solutions to the world’s most pressing needs.” Priorities include initiatives in the areas of agriculture, education, housing, finance and technology, to name a few. The foundation’s geographic ares of interest over the past several years include Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico and Rwanda. One grantee, BRCK, provides wifi and electronic educational tools to communities in need in Africa. Another grantee, Indonesia’s RUMA, aims to support underserved communities with financial and information services. It is worth noting that much of Sorenson’s global development funding goes to for profit social enterprises.

GLOBAL HEALTH: Via their foundation, the Sorensons have supported several health initiatives in developing nations. Grantees include Arbutus Medical, which makes affordable medical devises for orthopedic surgery, and Earaccess, which makes hearing aids affordable for the developing world.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLEAN ENERGY: The Sorensons’ Grants for climate change and clean energy have mainly supported global organizations working in the developing world. Recent grantees include Simpa Networks, which produces and installs solar power systems in India, and Quidnet, an enterprise that develops carbon-free power storage systems.

HIGHER EDUCATION: Sorenson has strongly supported his alma mater, the University of Utah. In 2013, he gave $13 million to David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah to create the James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center. The center "engages students in creating sustainable change on regional and global levels through high-impact social investment, innovative curriculum and research." Support has also gone to Brigam Young University, Krista's alma mater. Sorenson has supported the BYU ARTS Partnership to promote arts education in Utah's schools. Sorenson's late mother, Beverley, was an advocate of arts education. In 2008, the Utah State Legislature funded the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program, bringing an integrated teaching model to classrooms across the state. Money has also gone to Junior Achievement, and to American Indian Services, which provides scholarships to low-income Native Americans. The Sorensons, in recent years, have also supported internship programs at the D.C.-based Gallaudet University, which serves students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

LOOKING FORWARD: Sorenson’s innovative philanthropy is likely to continue supporting nonprofit and for-profit enterprises that support global development and health. Unfortunately, giving has steadily decreased over the past few years.

LINKS:

Sorenson Impact Foundation 

Apply

Contact Page