SOURCE OF WEALTH: Cisco Systems
FUNDING AREAS: Education, health, animals and wildlife, global security
OVERVIEW: John Chambers and his wife, Elaine, do their grantmaking through the Chambers Family Foundation, which made around $4 million in grants in a recent year. The Bay Area serves as an important site of grantmaking.
BACKGROUND: John T. Chambers holds BA, BS and JD degrees from West Virginia University. He received an MBA in finance and management from Indiana University in 1975. Chambers worked at Wang Laboratories and IBM. In 1991, he joined Cisco Systems and served as chair and CEO from 2006 to 2015.
ISSUES: Education, public health, animals and wildlife, global development and security
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Education is one of the Chambers’ largest areas of giving, with a majority of education grants supporting institutions of higher education in the U.S. The Chambers have provided ongoing support to John’s alma mater, the University of West Virginia, home to the John Cambers College of Business and Economics. Other higher education recipients include Case Western Reserve University, Duke University and Stanford University, where their daughter studied. Recent funding for K-12 education has supported the Menlo Park-based literacy organization All Students Matter, the Bay Area chapter of Teach for America and the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum.
PUBLIC HEALTH: Via their foundation, the Chambers have provided ongoing support to the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, where Elaine Chambers serves on the board of directors. Other recent health grantees include the American Cancer Society, the ALS Therapy Development Institute and San Jose’s CancerCare Point.
ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE: The Chambers have demonstrated an emerging interest in wildlife conservation in recent years, although this is a smaller area of giving. Grants have supported Ducks Unlimited and the California Waterfowl Association.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY: Via their foundation, the Chambers have given to the American Friends of the Peres Institute for Peace, an Israeli organization that supports conflict resolution and economic development in the Middle East.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Chambers philanthropy has increased significantly in the past few years. Look for this couple to develop philanthropic interests in addition to education and health.
CONTACT:
Chambers Family Foundation
P.O. Box 10195, Dept. 12
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 313-2003