5 entrepreneurs going above and beyond for charitable causes they care about
We’re living through an age of unparalleled inequality of opportunity and outcomes. A majority of the world’s wealth and productive capacity resides with just a handful of stratospherically wealthy families.
Anyone who values fairness finds this state of affairs distressing. Fortunately, at least some among the wealthy few do value fairness. They’re doing their part to support the solutions and create a more just, equitable world.
These five entrepreneurs are among the most influential. Here’s what they’re doing to help.
1. Pierre Omidyar, The Omidyar Group
eBay founder and noted philanthropist Pierre Omidyar made a fortune in the Web 1.0 economy. Today, he spends his time and treasure empowering others to follow in his footsteps.
Not everyone touched by his philanthropy, the Omidyar Group, will go on to found a multibillion-dollar tech company. But Omidyar sure wants to break down barriers to entrepreneurship and self-actualization in the U.S. and abroad. His organization’s wide-ranging activities all spring from a simple belief: that “people are inherently good and capable, but don’t always have access to opportunity.”
2. Steve Streit, Patti’s Way
The mission statement of Patti’s Way, the charity founded by finance entrepreneur Steve Streit, is more personal than the Omidyar Group’s. Streit founded Patti’s Way to honor his mother, who was dedicated to “helping people in need, treating them with respect, and recognizing their inherent need for kindness,” according to Patti’s Way. Today, Steve Streit’s charity supports community organizations in California and Florida, including the Foothill Family Foundation (Pasadena, California), Bresee Youth Center (Los Angeles), the Shelter for Abused Women and Children (Naples, Florida), and the Hollenbeck PAL (Los Angeles).
3. Craig Newmark, Craig Newmark Foundation and Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund
Craig Newmark is best known as the founder of Craigslist, the online classifieds portal. He has long since stepped back from day-to-day operations at Craigslist and now devotes his life to two related charitable endeavors, the Craig Newmark Foundation and the Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund. Newmark’s charities serve as an extension of his values, supporting such causes as the protection of journalists, strengthening democracy, countering malicious cyberattacks, battling food insecurity, and helping veterans and their families.
4. John Arnold, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Houston-based business power couple Laura and John Arnold founded the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in 2010 to “improve lives through evidence-based solutions.” Rather than funding institutions directly, they support research into the causes of and potential solutions to social ills. They then double down on research that shows promise in a process observers have affectionately dubbed “the Moneyball approach to philanthropy.”
5. Bill Gates, The Giving Pledge
Bill and Melinda Gates have done more for modern philanthropy than any other couple. That’s due in part to their early advocacy for The Giving Pledge, an ambitious initiative through which the world’s richest people committed to giving away the vast majority of their wealth during their lifetimes. Along with early adopters like Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg, the Gateses properly disrupted the staid world of charitable giving and raised the bar for what’s possible.
Are you doing your part?
You might not be as fortunate as the entrepreneurs on this list, but surely you can find ways to give back to those who aren’t as well off as you are.
Perhaps that means donating what resources you can spare to one of these charities. Perhaps it means something else.
Whatever it means, you’ll find that doing your part is its own kind of reward.