The Leader of This Growing West Coast Funder Is Zeroing in on the Promise and Perils of AI

The Leader of This Growing West Coast Funder Is Zeroing in on the Promise and Perils of AI

The Heising-Simons Foundation’s CEO Fund allows the head of the foundation to choose a priority area to support. Sushma Raman reflects on why she chose to focus on AI, and on her first year as head of the foundation.

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Elon Musk Sent Most of His Charitable Dollars in 2022 to a Brand-New Nonprofit: His New School

Elon Musk Sent Most of His Charitable Dollars in 2022 to a Brand-New Nonprofit: His New School

The mercurial tech titan now presides over a multibillion-dollar foundation. Here’s a look at where its grants went in 2022, and at Musk’s still-murky plans to set up a K-12 school and university in Texas.

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By the Numbers, Google Founders' Philanthropies Are Now Peers to Legacy Giants

By the Numbers, Google Founders' Philanthropies Are Now Peers to Legacy Giants

Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s grantmaking grew by $80 million or more apiece in 2022, putting them among the top 40 philanthropic funders in the U.S. But for Page in particular, good luck finding out where all that money’s going.

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Meet the Song Foundation: A Michigan Take on Silicon Valley Philanthropy

Meet the Song Foundation: A Michigan Take on Silicon Valley Philanthropy

Founded in 2019 from the cybersecurity fortune of Dug and Linh Song, this multipurpose grantmaker is poised for growth on its home turf of southeastern Michigan. Here’s why this is a regional funder worth keeping an eye on.

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Six Reasons Why Effective Altruism Isn't Going Anywhere

Six Reasons Why Effective Altruism Isn't Going Anywhere

Despite the bruising it’s taken over the past year, the giving movement still ticks some key boxes that’ll likely give it the momentum to continue playing a prominent role in philanthropy, like it or not.

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A Closer Look at the Philanthropy of First Wave Tech Billionaire John Morgridge and His Family

A Closer Look at the Philanthropy of First Wave Tech Billionaire John Morgridge and His Family

The former Cisco CEO hails from the generation of givers who made their fortunes in tech’s first wave. We dig into his family’s grantmaking and meet the heirs who’ll carry that philanthropy forward.

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How a Transformative Educational Experience Led to a Tech Winner’s Huge Surprise Bequest

How a Transformative Educational Experience Led to a Tech Winner’s Huge Surprise Bequest

Franklin Antonio, who died last year, was cofounder and chief scientist at semiconductor giant Qualcomm. He left $200 million to Summer Science Program, which introduces talented teens to advanced research.

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Can This Sustainability Challenge Help Revive a Struggling City?

Can This Sustainability Challenge Help Revive a Struggling City?

Deloitte, Salesforce and the World Economic Forum launched a challenge that they hope will help revive a struggling San Francisco. But can backing social entrepreneurs really pull the city out of its “doom loop?”

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AI in Education? Salesforce Takes the Plunge

AI in Education? Salesforce Takes the Plunge

Artificial intelligence loomed very large at several recent Bay Area functions hosted by Salesforce. As the trailblazing corporate funder leans into AI in its education giving, are there pitfalls to consider?

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Recent Layoffs Raise Questions About the Future of Education Funding at CZI

Recent Layoffs Raise Questions About the Future of Education Funding at CZI

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a committed ed funder, just cut its education team by 30%. What do these layoffs mean for the philanthropy’s education support going forward?

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AI for the Planet: How One of the World's Biggest Tech Firms Is Backing AI-Powered Climate Science

AI for the Planet: How One of the World's Biggest Tech Firms Is Backing AI-Powered Climate Science

Google.org is putting artificial intelligence at the center of its current efforts to foster innovation in climate research. It’s something of a return to form for a corporate funder that previously focused heavily on COVID response.

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Inside The Audacious Project: How the Billionaires’ Funding Collaborative Picks its Winners

Inside The Audacious Project: How the Billionaires’ Funding Collaborative Picks its Winners

The Audacious Project has become one of the largest forces in philanthropy, thanks to its singular talent for appealing to the world’s billionaires. We take an in-depth look at who is backing it, how it works and where the money goes.

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Still an Apex Donor? What's Changing, and Staying the Same, About Jack Dorsey's Giving

Still an Apex Donor? What's Changing, and Staying the Same, About Jack Dorsey's Giving

Jack Dorsey’s star has faded somewhat since he became a high-profile megadonor back in 2021, but his philanthropy is still going strong. We take a look at what Start Small is backing these days.

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AI Is Suddenly Everywhere, but Philanthropy Has Been Involved for Years. Here Are the Top Funders

AI Is Suddenly Everywhere, but Philanthropy Has Been Involved for Years. Here Are the Top Funders

Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s mind now, but philanthropy has been boosting research or bracing for its implications for some time. Here are the major funders involved in the field.

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A Global Philanthropic Competition to Save the Lives of Mothers and Babies

A Global Philanthropic Competition to Save the Lives of Mothers and Babies

Lever for Change recently announced finalists in its Maternal & Infant Health Award grants competition. Can this approach, which supports community-based health programs, move the needle on a global problem?

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Fair-Weather Friends? Progressive Nonprofits' Dangerous Dependence on the Liberal Rich

Fair-Weather Friends? Progressive Nonprofits' Dangerous Dependence on the Liberal Rich

As left-of-center groups grow ever more reliant on big funders, is there a price to be paid? If and when the liberal donor class pulls back, the fallout may leave its beneficiaries impoverished in multiple ways.

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Facing Deep Regional Inequality, Silicon Valley Community Foundation Zeroes in on Early Childhood

Facing Deep Regional Inequality, Silicon Valley Community Foundation Zeroes in on Early Childhood

Silicon Valley has pockets of deep poverty — and child care deserts — alongside areas of immense, tech-fueled wealth. SVCF’s Christine Thorsteinson details the foundation’s efforts boost access to quality early education.

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On the Ground with the Ballmer Group, One of LA's Leading Antipoverty Funders

On the Ground with the Ballmer Group, One of LA's Leading Antipoverty Funders

Over the past few years, Steve and Connie Ballmer have continued ramping up their commitments in Los Angeles. We took a deep dive into how a vast tech fortune is being put to use to scale up local economic mobility.

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Larry Page's Foundation Doubled in Size to Hit $6.7 Billion in Assets — Nearly All Giving Goes to DAFs

Larry Page's Foundation Doubled in Size to Hit $6.7 Billion in Assets — Nearly All Giving Goes to DAFs

According to the latest available tax filings, Google cofounder Larry Page’s philanthropy reached new heights in 2021, putting it in league with some of the nation’s largest. The foundation’s giving remains almost entirely opaque.

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New Frontier: Philanthropy’s Role in Digital Mental Health

New Frontier: Philanthropy’s Role in Digital Mental Health

App-based digital mental healthcare saw a renaissance during the pandemic. As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month, guest author Anna Bobb offers some ways philanthropy can further catalyze that promising field.

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