Letter from the Founders and President & CEO

Dear Friends:

Our Vision: We want a safe and peaceful world, one without the threat of destruction. We want a healthy world, one without disease and without pollution of our air, water and land, and one in which all species have the ability to survive and flourish.

The Foundation’s first year in operation proved exciting and gratifying. We were, in many ways, a typical start-up: we had a lot of great ideas, we grappled with our vision, strategy and goals, we had to establish an organizational identity, and we recognized – reluctantly – that we had to focus on a few core issues in order to be most effective.

Unlike most start-ups, however, we had long-term financing! The charitable gifts from Steve and Michele Kirsch that established the Foundation were valued at $50 million in July 1999. As of June 30, 2000, the market value of the Foundation’s assets had increased to more than $76 million.

We accomplished a great deal during this past year:
• We identified the core issues we care about and want to tackle, such as keeping the world safe from destruction, curing major diseases, preserving and restoring our environment, and encouraging others to become philanthropists.

• We determined that we would use whatever means were available to us, whether lobbying and advocacy, strategic grantmaking, collaborative efforts, and/or educational outreach, to leverage our financial and human resources.

• We inaugurated five grants programs: environment; medical and scientific projects; political reform and global issues; multi-year, basic science Investigator Awards; and Silicon Valley community. Through these five programs, we made grants totaling $4,083,550 between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000. This includes $928,200 in discretionary grants that were made to organizations and institutions by the Kirsches and the Board of Directors.

• We established an effective lobbying presence and clear environmental legislative agenda within California, and had success with legislation providing a benefit to zero-emission vehicles.

• We selected a Scientific Advisory Board, whose members provided us with invaluable guidance given our desire to leverage our medically-based grant funds and to cover a broad array of medical problems at the same time.

• We entered into a partnership with AllCharities.com to encourage charitable giving over the Internet.

We appreciate the efforts of Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CFSV). Its senior staff worked closely with us to establish the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation as a support organization of CFSV and to guide its early days. Special thanks to CFSV’s President and CEO, Peter deCourcy Hero, to its former Vice President for Programs, Winnie Chu, and to Robert Rosendale, Vice President for Investments & Finance, for their counsel and expertise. With their support, our trail-blazing – as a support organization and entrepreneurial foundation – was made easier. We also want to recognize and thank the two Kirsch Foundation Board members who represent CFSV: Harry Saal and Perry Olson. Each has made invaluable contributions to the development of the Foundation over the course of its first year.

We are optimistic that our start-up days are behind us. We have a complement of five staff members, including an Environmental Programs Director and a Medical and Scientific Programs Director, to move us forward with dispatch. We believe the Foundation is poised to make a real – and strategic – difference and that our efforts will help to make the world safer and healthier.

Steven T. Kirsch
Founder and
Board Chairman		 Michele Kirsch
Founder		 Kathleen Gwynn
President & CEO