Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee

SOURCE OF WEALTH: PayPal, LinkedIn

FUNDING AREAS: Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Activism, Education, Public Policy

OVERVIEW: Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee, both signatories of the Giving Pledge, support a range of nonprofits. Hoffman serves on the boards of a number of organizations, including Kiva, a microlending organization and Endeavor Global, which supports "high-impact entrepreneurs." Hoffman and Yee serve on the board of directors of The Exploratorium. 

BACKGROUND: Reid Hoffman grew up in Berkeley, attended Stanford University as an undergrad, and received a master's from Oxford. Initially, he wanted to be a public intellectual, but then realized he could make a greater impact as an entrepreneur, which led him to join Apple in 1994. He also worked briefly for Fujitsu before founding his first company, SocialNet.com, which has been described as "literally an idea before its time." He was a board member at the founding of Paypal, where he was once COO and executive VP, but is probably best known as a co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016. Hoffman is a partner at Greylock Partners, whose portfolio includes companies such as Linkedin, Facebook, Workday and Airbnb.

ISSUES:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Hoffman is a board member of Kiva, a microlending organization that facilitates loans for small business development, primarily in developing countries, with the idea that helping people become self-reliant will lift them and their communities out of poverty. In one of his few publicly announced gifts, Hoffman donated $1 million to Kiva in 2012. His donation went directly toward Kiva's microlending program with the idea that it would allow 40,000 people to "try" Kiva without having to donate their own money. Presumably, Reid is hoping that after seeing the results of their decisions to fund individual entrepreneurs, people would be encouraged to donate their own money and become repeat microlenders. 

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP & GOVERNMENT: Hoffman has served on the board of Endeavor Global, a nonprofit that supports what it refers to as "High-Impact Entrepreneurs" around the world. The main goal is to facilitate increased employment and high-quality jobs in developing areas. The types of ideas that receive support vary widely, and include examples such as tech companies, shopping clubs and women-only gyms. The only qualification seems to be a sound business model that will benefit the community, and stacks up against the rigorous metrics that Endeavor uses to determine who receives investments and the impact those investments make. Hoffman is also a funder of Code for America, a nonprofit that seeks to improve government efficiency through technology. He has also been involved with Change.org and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which empowers "strong, independent leaders from academia and government, as well as the technology and nonprofit sectors to do the best work possible." 

YOUTH ACTIVISM: Hoffman has supported DoSomething.org, a nonprofit that engages young people's volunteerism, and activities aimed at bringing about social change. 

EDUCATION: Hoffman serves as advisory board chair for QuestBridge, an organization that connects high-achieving, low-income students to educational and scholarship opportunities at leading U.S. colleges and Universities. The couple are also board members of the Exploratorium, an educational museum of science, art and human perception in San Francisco. Stanford graduate Yee also received a doctorate in education with an emphasis on international human rights education. She has a lengthy bucket list, which includes exploring equine-facilitated therapy to assist children with disabilities.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: In winter of 2015, Hoffman joined a collective of other tech companies and entrepreneurs in donating a combined $1 billion to OpenAI, a nonprofit focused on improving "digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole."

GIVING THROUGH LINKEDIN: Like a number of other tech entrepreneurs, Hoffman has realized that the companies that have made him successful not only allow him to offer significant personal support to the causes he cares about, but can also be used as a platform to do good. Perhaps the most impactful piece of giving that LinkedIn does, though, is through the professional network itself, with LinkedIn Board Member Connect, a feature of LinkedIn that enables nonprofits to connect with potential board members, funding sources and volunteers through a nonprofit peer network.

LOOKING FORWARD: Hoffman has said he wants to spend his money in his lifetime. However, expect him to continue to do most of his philanthropic work without a foundation. As he puts it, "I don’t have any interest in creating a named foundation, I have an interest in really good impact for capital. I think I’m pretty good at doing it, so I’m going to apply myself to doing it in my lifetime.

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