‘Philanthropy Is Something We Live’

Mark and Brenda Moore credit one of the most difficult times in their lives as the catalyst for their charitable giving.

In 2007, Mark, a McLean, Va., entrepreneur, suffered two debilitating strokes in two days at the age of 46.

He spent 30 days at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Va. Three months later he returned to work with a new perspective on life — and a new focus for the couple’s philanthropy.

“We were just patients. We were just like everyone else,” Mark says. “We really wanted to afford other people the opportunity to receive the same type of care that I received at the hospital.”

Brenda, a former nurse, was on board from the start. “Mark and I have always been on the same page,” she says. “We also are very careful to make decisions, and when we do it, we do it together.”

Key Fundraiser Moves

Mark made his fortune from the sales of two companies, MindShift Technologies and Segovia, which provided global IP services to the Department of Defense. Their net worth is $35 million.

Through the Mark and Brenda Moore Family Foundation, the couple has given away about $8 million. The Moores’ first major gift was $2 million to Inova in 2009 to build a new patient tower. Fundraisers from Inova gave the Moores an informational packet outlining specific things their donation would accomplish, which they say was instrumental in their decision to give.

The first thing that stood out was the creation of more private rooms, which Mark credits as key to his recovery.

The second was money for state-of-the-art technology to test if stroke patients can swallow and a driving simulator to test their skills behind the wheel. Both were aimed at helping people regain independence.

“It was really important that underrepresented people were receiving the services as well,” Brenda says. “There absolutely was conversation with regard to how it would impact the entire community, who would be served.”

Before presenting the packet to the Moores, foundation representatives spoke to hospital staff and the families of other patients to learn what was needed to improve safety and comfort and ensure the gift served all patients. “Clearly they had done their research,” Brenda says. “But we also believe in the power of prayer.”

Led by Faith

“Our whole life is centered around faith,” Mark says. “Faith drew us to our philanthropy.”

Both Mark and Brenda grew up in religious homes. Brenda says their religious community is at the center of their social lives. “Others should be blessed as well,” she says. “We should always pay it forward.”

Mark is a mid-Atlantic ambassador for Empowered to Serve, an effort of the American Heart Association that reaches out to faith-based and African American communities. He also gives speeches at churches around the D.C. area.

“I think that we really value making sure that we are representing people who don’t have a voice,” Brenda says. “That’s really a big part of why we want to make sure that we are out in front as often as we can and also teaching others to do what we do.”

Leaving a Legacy

By giving their time, talent, and treasure, as Mark likes to say, the Moores hope to leave a legacy of giving. Critical to that effort is their founding donation of $1 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016.

They first heard about the idea for the museum from Lonnie Bunch, who would go on to be the founding director of the museum, at a dinner several years earlier at the home of Washington, D.C., philanthropists Amanda and Earl Stafford.

“At that time, they hadn’t even broken ground. It was just a vision,” Mark says. “We were so impressed with the concept of creating a museum.”

Bunch and his staff painted a picture of what the museum meant to African American history and to the world, Brenda says.

“It wasn’t a typical museum, it wasn’t something that we had heard before,” she says. “While it was a Smithsonian, it was something that would be very personal. That really grabbed us.”

The couple sees the donation as a way to put their stamp on something grand and leave a legacy for their two children and two grandchildren.

“It helps us to represent our parents and our grandparents by doing this because we don’t often hear of your average African American or couple of color doing these things out in the community,” Brenda says.

The couple agrees that passion for the causes they give to is the driving force behind their charitable giving.

“Being a philanthropist is something that we do every day,” Brenda says. “Philanthropy is something we live. It’s about serving as well as giving.”