Our Views on Philanthropy
There are many battles worth fighting. This conviction has been a driving force behind our philanthropic commitments, along with numerous mission-driven commercial ventures. My wife, Tayler, and I are firm believers in tikkun olam, the Jewish mandate to “repair our broken world” – beginning with the recognition that it is in fact a mandate. Similarly, although “mitzvah” is commonly interpreted as “good deed”, it translates literally as “commandment”. While it takes innumerable shapes, this is work that fundamentally must be performed. The below is not meant to serve as an exhaustive account of our philanthropic activities, but rather as an introduction to the principles, focus areas, and key causes that have guided us.
Principles
1. Venture Philanthropy
We have been early supporters of a number of innovative nonprofits, providing seed funding, mentorship, and connections to help them scale and garner support from donors who prefer more established organizations.
2. Fast and Future Impact
Philanthropy can and should address both near-term crises and chronic, systemic issues.
3. Multiply Forces
Solve problems directly, and invest in platforms and leaders that will ultimately solve many more.
4. Help People Help Themselves
Everyone, no matter how desperate his or her circumstances, deserves to experience the dignity of work and the fulfillment of being needed by others.
5. Government Agnostic
We’ve partnered with and built platforms for government agencies, and also stepped in to help our citizens and allies when government has let them down.
Policy
We created the Cicero Institute to partner with modern-day Ciceros: courageous policymakers and public-spirited entrepreneurs who oppose special interests and uphold the common good. Cicero includes both a 501c3 to research and educate on policy, and a 501c4 to create and pass important legislation – policy solutions based on non-partisan entrepreneurial thinking that applies transparency, accountability, and frameworks inspired by the values of our free society to maximize opportunity for every citizen.
Higher Education
America’s universities have long been the envy of the world, yet a look at our elite campuses reveals that they are drifting ever further from their founding ideals. Students are conditioned to view challenging ideas as violent and oppressive, and are forming rigid new orthodoxies that aim to overturn the foundations of Western culture. Meanwhile, the cost of higher education is soaring, fueled by administrative bloat, overeager public and private lenders, and a pervasive obsession with rankings. The cronyism of higher education is so pervasive that even the idea of forming a new university is viewed as heretical. We risk forgetting that great universities did not simply appear – they were built.
The University of Austin (UATX) was founded on the same principles that once sustained the first American universities: the sacredness of free inquiry, the promotion of classical liberal values, and the promise that no school of thought may silence another. These principles demand that both teachers and students become relentless pursuers of the truth. The goal of UATX is to develop, not indoctrinate, courageous leaders who will imagine innovative solutions to our most significant problems. Since truth is independent of any one sect or dogma, UATX will sustain its independence from passing trends or pressures. It will sustain the free and fearless inquiry that itself sustains America’s success.
Focus Areas & Causes
Poverty/Human Rights
ONEHOPE Foundation is the nonprofit branch of ONEHOPE Wine, a direct-to-consumer brand that has donated millions to worthy causes close to home and around the globe. Highlights include access to safe drinking water for 70,000+ people, 3,000,000+ meals provided to hungry children, and three schools built in the developing world (which we’ve also supported directly). I have served as Chairman of the Board for over a decade.
Thorn develops technologies to uncover, combat, and report online child sexual exploitation, and have identified 17,000+ victims to date. We partnered with cofounder Ashton Kutcher in Thorn’s early days to enlist talent, refine strategy, and reach scale, as well as serving on their board.
IJM partners with local authorities in 14 countries to protect people in poverty from violence, slavery, and trafficking.
Over 20 years after 9/11, the suffering of the Afghan people themselves is too often forgotten. 9/11 was an indisputable catalyst for the creation of Palantir, and following the US withdrawal, it was both an honor and obligation to assist Afghans through. We were among the first to support Rockefeller’s Afghan Future Fund for the evacuation and continuing education of female university students, as well as the following organizations and efforts:
- Children in Conflict provides emergency supplies and services to Afghan children families.
- Operation Recovery coordinates repatriation and resettlement for our Afghan allies, many of whom risked everything for the promise of a better future.
- The Vandenberg Coalition has assembled a diverse, nonpartisan working group to shape US Afghan strategy and policy.
ICM provides help, hope, and change to impoverished families with the mission of creating a world where no child has to live in ultra-poverty.
Cancer & Health Research
The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is a center of excellence for both clinical research and patient care, the two pillars of oncology.
The Innovative Genomics Institute applies advances in genomic engineering to a variety of complex diseases, as well as challenges in sustainable agriculture.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation pursues high-risk, high-reward breakthroughs in treatment. Damon Runyon is a model of longevity (75 years of service), leanness, and efficacy (thirteen Nobel laureates funded to date).
Empowering Underrepresented Communities Through Education
The Gentlemen’s Retreat exposes promising young men from the inner city to powerful experiences, mentorship, and personal development modules, teaching them to make their unique mark and feel at home in the world at large.
Code.org expands access to computer science education in K-12 schools, with a focus on young women and other underrepresented and marginalized student groups.
The American Federation for Children focuses on empowering families, primarily lower-income ones, to make the best educational choices for their children, as well as promoting education reform and reformers. < increasing competition in education
Strive for College provides free online mentoring and college guidance for underprivileged and underrepresented high school students. Many of Strive’s volunteers have succeeded coming from similar backgrounds, and are now investing their time in the same communities. I was honored be one of the first donors to Strive (which started just down the road from where I grew up), and served on their board of directors for multiple years.
Classical Beauty, Classical Virtues:
The National Monuments Foundation, which utilizes classical design to create public spaces that inspire and educate.
The National Civic Art Society, which promotes public art and architecture in the classical tradition.