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Michele and I have a lot we want to accomplish, but our overall goal is to make the world a better place, primarily by focusing on leverageable activities. The most satisfying experience is when we set an ambitious and measurable goal and achieve it. This is particularly true if no one else or few others are doing it. If it has an impact on millions of people, and our efforts were key either to launching the project or getting it done or both, that is the greatest reward.”
Because Michele is a full-time mom, and because I have a full-time job and like to spend as much time as I can with our kids, it really cuts into the amount of time we have for philanthropy. So we picked a few easy (!) goals that we can accomplish in our spare time. These goals are:
- Saving the world (through our support of nuclear disarmament, reducing the impacts of global warming, our prior work on asteroid identification, and publicly raising awareness of these issues).
- Curing major diseases (through our support for human embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning, and our prior efforts sponsoring research scientists at leading universities).
- Cleaning up the air in California (through our work to improve air quality in the San Joaquin Valley, our historical support of clean vehicle technologies including zero-emission vehicles, and our efforts to pass legislation and implement regulations that would put the state on the path to cleaner air).
- Reforming politics (through support for “clean money” campaign finance reform in California and our nation).
- Support for our local community (through our charitable gifts and personal commitment to many Silicon Valley organizations).
- Encouraging others to give (through press interviews, talks, events at our home, emails, and personal mentoring of younger philanthropists).
Our goals haven’t changed much since the Kirsch Foundation’s inception in 1999, but that is because there is still much work to be done. You can read more of my thoughts in "Steve’s Reflections".
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