SOURCE of WEALTH: Twitter, Square
FUNDING AREAS: Entrepreneurship, education, global development, racial equity, humanitarian, economic justice, girl’s health
OVERVIEW: Dorsey’s philanthropy has really picked up recently, and in 2020, he gave away large sums of money at a rapid rate. Most significantly, he pledged $1 billion of his shares in Square toward relief from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the months since his announcement the value of these shares has more than tripled. Dorsey conducts his grantmaking through the Start Small Foundation, a charity he created in 2015, also with shares from Square. He frequently pools his donations with those of celebrities, including Rihanna and Jay-Z.
BACKGROUND: Dorsey grew up in St. Louis, and took an early interest in computer programming. He attended the Missouri University of Science & Technology before transferring to NYU, where he came up with the idea that eventually became Twitter. After moving to Oakland, he worked on software to dispatch couriers, taxis, and emergency services from the web. He approached a company called Odeo with the idea of a simple status sharing platform—leading to creation of Twitter. Until recently, Dorsey served as executive chair of Twitter, Inc.; his other company, Square, has an equally large impact on his fortune.
ISSUES:
HUMANITARIAN: In April 2020, Dorsey pledged $1 billion of his shares in Square, more than 25% of his total net worth, toward relief efforts for Covid-19. Much of this has gone to organizations—like food banks, homeless shelters, and schools—providing essential services for traditionally underserved populations and to those disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, including $18 million to Vital Strategies: Resolve to Save Lives and $5.3 million to World Central Kitchen.
SOCIAL JUSTICE: Dorsey has also recently given millions to social justice organizations in partnership with Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation, including $1 million to the NAACP for its policing reform campaign and its voting rights initiative, $1.5 million to Black Visions Collective for dismantling systems of oppression and violence, and $750,000 to ArchCity Defender to combat the criminalization of poverty and state violence, especially in communities of color. He has also supported the Florida Rights and Restoration Coalition to restore the right to vote by paying off the fines and fees of over 100,000 returning citizens, and $7.6 million to Fuse Corps to advance racial, social, and economic justice. He gave $10 million to Boston University’s AntiRacism Center, founded by Dr. Ibram X. Kendhi. Start Small has also given $1 million to B-360’s #Ride4Change campaign, which seeks to use Baltimore’s dirt bike culture to disrupt the cycle of poverty.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: Dorsey has given $3 million to Know Your Rights Camp which seeks to advance the well-being of Black and Brown communities through “education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.” He has also given at least $18 million toward a pilot program for guaranteed basic income by the organization Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), and another $15 million to Open Research Lab Income Project, also for UBI research.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & EDUCATION: Dorsey has auctioned off a lunch with himself and two internships at Square to benefit Build.org, whose mission is to use entrepreneurship to excite and propel disengaged, low-income students through high school to college success. The internships, which were auctioned in 2011 and 2012, raised $60,000 for the organization. Bidding on the lunch started at $5,000. Twitter also gave a $10 million grant to MIT for the purposes of analyzing how best to put social media data to use. Dorsey pledged $10 million to the Oakland school district to ensure every child in the city has access to a computer and internet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Dorsey is a supporter of charity: water, and in 2010 visited villages in Ethiopia that received a well sponsored by Dorsey and his Twitter followers. In February 2021, Dorsey pledged $4.7 million to Water.org to help Africans living in poverty access small, affordable loans to solve home water and sanitation challenges. He also pledged $3 million for girls’ education in sub-Saharan Africa through AGE Africa, Asante Africa Foundation, WISER International, and Women’s Global Education Project.
LOOKING FORWARD: Look for Dorsey’s recent focus on philanthropy to continue, particularly in humanitarian causes and social justice. Once the COVID-19 vaccine is widely available and the pandemic has subsided, expect Start Small’s focus to shift to girl’s health and education, and universal basic income.
CONTACT: Twitter: @jack