Meet 20 Top Donors of Color from the Tech Industry

Cupertino, CAlifornia. Uladzik Kryhin/shutterstock

Sometimes it’s striking to see just how slowly progress occurs. Just this month, Claudine Gay, the Stanford and Harvard-educated political scientist, was named the new president of Harvard University, set to begin her term in the summer of 2023. She is the first Black person to hold the position, and only the second woman overall.

Harvard was established in 1636.

That said, America is marching toward a new reality and by 2050, America will be majority nonwhite. These demographic shifts have implications across multiple sectors, including philanthropy. And we’ve been tracking a growing list of people of color who’ve had success in business and then gone on to major philanthropy. These numbers aren’t yet overwhelming. For instance, my recent post about Black Philanthropists on Wall Street named eight givers.

The tech world of Silicon Valley and beyond isn’t awash with diversity, either. However, there are a few more people of color — particularly of Asian and Southeast Asian descent — that we can name. Some of these figures turn to philanthropy that doesn’t involve only America, but India, China, Japan and more, all driven by deeply personal motivations.

As for other minority groups, one needn’t look too far into the past to see controversies over the lack of diversity at Google and other major companies. As of May 2020, Google reported that 5.9% of its employees and contractors are Latino and 3.7% are Black.

Again, slow progress.

With all that said, we’ve compiled a list of top givers of color in tech. This is by no means a definitive compilation. Rather, this post sketches out some of the more significant individual donors in this space and what they fund.

Ben and Teresa Chestnut, Mailchimp

Billionaire Ben Chestnut founded Mailchimp in the early 2000s. He and his wife Teresa launched the Chestnut Family Foundation in 2017, which invests in the lives of children through access to the arts, largely in Georgia. Grantees have included Moving in the Spirit, a creative youth development program; LaAmistad, an out-of-school learning program designed to help Latino students; and Jessye Norman School of the Arts.

Vinod and Neeru Khosla, Sun Microsystems, Khosla Ventures

Khosla first tried to launch a soy milk company in India before immigrating to the United States in the 1970s. In 1982, he cofounded a computer hardware firm. Today, Vinod Khosla heads up Silicon Valley venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and is worth nearly $5 billion. He and his wife Neeru launched the Amar Foundation, which supports the CK-12 Foundation, an education nonprofit Neeru cofounded. CK-12 provides free customizable K-12 open educational resources used by tens of thousands of schools. Khosla is also highly interested in microlending to tackle poverty in India.

James and Juliette McNeil, McNeil Technologies

James McNeil started McNeil Technologies in his attic in 1985. The Virginia-based company grew into a leading government national security and intelligence services firm that sold for $355 million to AECOM. McNeil and his EPA veteran wife Juliette move their giving through the McNeil Family Foundation, through which they modestly support causes in Virginia, their native Alabama and elsewhere. They’ve also supported an organization working in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak, and have given at least $1 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Rao and Satya Remala, Microsoft

Rao Remala was one of the first 50 employees at Microsoft and its first South Asian hire. The couple launched the Satya and Rao Remala Foundation, whose grantmaking focuses on health and education in their local Seattle community and beyond. Some of the family’s education work in India involves long-term support of Pratham, a leading education NGO. Family giving shifted to the second generation, as the couple’s daughters became involved. Their daughter Srilakshmi, who once headed up the family foundation’s education work, now works in education grantmaking for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki, Yahoo!

Born in Taiwan, Jerry Yang was a doctoral student at Stanford in the 1990s when he and David Filo came up with the “Jerry and Dave’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” which became Yahoo! In 2016, Verizon bought Yahoo in a $5 billion deal. Today, Yang is worth $2.4 billion and he and his wife Akiko Yamazaki focus on large gifts in education, the arts and conservation. In 2007, they gave $75 million to Stanford University, their alma mater. A decade later, the couple pledged $25 million to the Asian Art Museum, where Yang is an emeritus member of the board.

Samir Desai, Systems Resources Corporation

Samir Desai was educated in India before coming to the United States and attending Illinois Institute of Technology. In the mid-1980s, he founded Systems Resources Corporation (SRC), a Route 128 tech firm in Massachusetts that provided services for government agencies. The family’s Desai Foundation initially focused on supporting Indian cultural arts. Now shifting to the second generation, Desai’s daughter Megha serves as president of a family foundation, which now focuses on empowering women and children through community programs to elevate health and livelihood in India and the United States.

Ajay and Lata Krishnan-Shah, SMART Modular Technologies

Ajay and Lata Krishnan-Shah made up two-thirds of the founding team behind computer components manufacturer Smart Modular, which sold to Solectron for $2 billion in 1999. In 1997, the couple started moving charitable contributions through the Krishnan-Shah Family Foundation, which focuses on education, at-risk youth, and economic empowerment for women and the underprivileged. A component of their philanthropy involves India and East Africa, where the family has ties.

David and Diana Sun, Kingston Technologies

Taiwan-born billionaire David Sun immigrated to the United States and started selling computer memory modules out of a garage. The business grew steadily until Black Monday, October 19, 1987, when the stock market crashed and Sun and his business partner David Tu lost everything. Sun and Tu went on to found their second company, Kingston Technology, which specializes in computer-related memory products and is now one of the 500 largest privately held companies in the world. The Suns move philanthropy through the Sun Family Foundation, working mainly in California and Taiwan in education, youth development, human services and social entrepreneurship.

Mark and Brenda Moore, mindSHIFT Technologies

Mark Moore was only in his 40s when he suffered two strokes within 48 hours. Moore sold his company, mindSHIFT Technologies, for a sizable sum, joining a handful of African Americans who’ve scored big in the tech sector, and embarked on a new focus in life with his wife Brenda. The Mark and Brenda Moore Family Foundation focuses on healthcare, education, arts and culture, and Christian evangelism in their giving, including big gifts to Inova Health System. They ultimately plan to give away $500 million.

Romesh Wadhwani, Aspect Development

Born in what is now Pakistan, billionaire Romesh Wadhwani was an infant when his parents fled to India as the British Indian Empire underwent partition. He attended the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon. In 2000, Wadhwani sold his company Aspect Development to i2 Technologies for $9.3 billion, almost entirely in i2 stock. A signatory of the Giving Pledge, he is a strong proponent of philanthrocapitalism in his home country of India. The Wadhwani Foundation aims to foster economic development in emerging economies through large-scale, family-sustaining jobs.

James and Agnes Kim, EB Games

James Joo-Jin Kim immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1955. He created video computer and video games retailer Electronics Boutique (EB Games). James and Agnes Kim move philanthropy through the James and Agnes Kim Foundation, which gave away around $2.2 million in a recent year. Philadelphia, including its suburbs, serve as an important region of giving. Kim has also strongly supported schools with which he has a personal connection — particularly University of Pennsylvania, where he’s given tens of millions for Korean studies, and Villanova.

Ram and Vijay Shriram, Google, Sherpalo

Born in India, billionaire Ram Shriram studied math at the University of Madras. He joined Netscape in 1994 as an executive after moving to the United States. He was an early Google backer and later started his venture capital firm Sherpalo. He and his wife Vijay have supported Magic Bus, which engages marginalized children in India, as well as Roshni, a nonprofit based in Delhi that helps Muslim girls get an education. They’ve also supported Stanford.

Ming Hsieh, Cogent Inc.

Hsieh survived China’s tumultuous Cultural Revolution, and eventually worked his way to USC, where he earned electrical engineering degrees. In 1987, he founded AMAX Technology, and in 1990, the Pasadena-based Cogent Inc., which revolutionized automated fingerprint identification. Hsieh has given tens of millions to his alma mater, USC. He has supported several other schools and has interests in health and science research.

Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi, Altos Syntel

The billionaire couple cofounded IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel (now Altos Syntel) from their apartment in Michigan. They founded the Ds Foundation, which gave away around $7.5 million in a recent year. The couple direct millions annually to a donor-advised fund, obscuring the full scope of their philanthropy. They also move philanthropy through the Desai Sethi Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of underserved individuals through education, entrepreneurship, and wellness, including working with American India Foundation.

Arash Ferdowsi, Dropbox

Born in Kansas in 1985 to Iranian immigrants, Ferdowsi attended MIT and went on to cofound Dropbox. Ferdowsi and cofounder Drew Houston launched the Dropbox Foundation in 2018 with an initial endowment of approximately $20 million to back organizations on the front lines of the global fight for human rights. His personal philanthropy seems to be ramping up, too, including a recent $500,000 gift to his high school, Blue Valley Northwest.

Jensen and Lori Huang, Nvidia

Born in Taiwan, Huang moved to Thailand as a child, and then to the United States. Huang cofounded GPU maker Nvidia in 1993, and has served as its CEO and president since inception. He is currently worth some $15 billion. He’s given $30 million to Stanford University for an engineering center and $5 million to Oregon Health & Science University for cancer research labs.

Naveen and Anu Jain, Moon Express, Intelius, Viome

Naveen Jain was born in India; Anu was born in Jerusalem and grew up in several countries as a U.N. child. As entrepreneurs, the Jains are interested in finding entrepreneurial solutions to address the global challenges in health, education, poverty, agriculture and clean water. The couple launched a $1 million Anu and Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE. Anu is a member of Women Moving Millions, a global philanthropic community committed to large-scale investments in women and girls.

Ramanathan and Asha Guha, Software Engineer, Epinions cofounder

Guha was a principal scientist at Apple Computer and a principal engineer at Netscape Communications. He co-founded Epinions. He and his wife Asha’s funding interests include education and the Indian community — including the local Bay Area Indian community. They’ve given millions to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams toward Hindu religious activities.

John and Mary Tu, Kingston Technologies

Billionaire John Tu was born in China, grew up in Taiwan, and studied electrical engineering in Germany before immigrating to Southern California. In the 1980s, Tu met David Sun, and the two eventually started Kingston Technologies. John and Mary Tu’s philanthropy has prioritized the Freedom Writers Foundation and music education, but grantmaking seems to be expanding to include higher education. Through the John and Mary Tu Foundation, they’ve supported UC Irvine.

Devindra and Manisha Chainani, Microsoft

Devindra Chainani managed engineering teams at Microsoft. The Chainanis steadily support Pratham USA. Manisha is interested in nonprofits in India that serve children with special needs. She’s on the advisory board of Upaya, whose mission is to “create dignified jobs for the poorest of the poor by building scalable businesses with investment and consulting support.” She also started Liveanklets, which provided Indian classical dance education to children and adults.