Even as reports of a new viral outbreak in China started popping up during the first weeks of 2020, most people were slow to pay sufficient attention to the developing threat. In contrast, Bill and Melinda Gates acted decisively and quickly. On January 29th, the Gates Foundation pledged $10 million “to help frontline responders in China and…
In Silicon Valley, the biggest financial rewards go to innovative, often contrarian ideas that scale globally. So entrepreneurs don’t just look for opportunities to create something radically new. They also look for opportunities that can impact hundreds of millions of people. This mindset has brought us Google, Amazon, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, smartphones, and countless other…
Progress comes from innovation, and innovation happens when inventors, entrepreneurs, activists, organizers, and others refuse to accept the status quo. Instead, they pursue new paths and new solutions – and sometimes bend or even break the rules in the process. This dynamic is what inspires the MIT Media Lab’s Disobedience Award.Announced in July 2016 at the…
TL;DR: Today, my wife Michelle and I are announcing a $20 million commitment to support the work of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a new laboratory space in San Francisco where researchers and clinical scientists from Stanford, UCSF, and UC Berkeley will pursue life science breakthroughs in a cutting-edge, collaborative environment. I will be joining the Biohub board. Software…
In Silicon Valley few entrepreneurs and technologists dream of changing the zip code, or even the state. Here, the goal is to change the world, building products that millions of people ultimately decide they can’t live without. Not all of these products are created by for-profit start-ups – think WordPress, Wikipedia, and Bitcoin just for…
A review of William MacAskill’s Doing Good Better No one donates money to try really hard to cure cancer, or deeply empathize with Siberian tigers. The goal is to eradicate cancer. The goal is to save Siberian tigers from extinction. And yet while philanthropy is oriented around specific outcomes, it’s often driven by emotion more than…
Last spring, a shelter in Berkeley, CA needed an architect to help it expand its facilities. A young architect who lives nearby had just made a New Year’s resolution to join a nonprofit board. In an earlier era, they would not have known each other existed. But in this instance the shelter’s executive director used…