Leading Social-Enterprise Donors: a Sampling
April 17, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Ron Cordes
Co-chairman, Genworth Financial Wealth Management
• Supports Giving Assets, a nonprofit group that is compiling an index of the top fund managers that specialize in social investments
Stuart Davidson
Managing partner, Labrador Ventures
• Started the Farber Fellowship program, which placesrecent business-school graduates at companies run by charities in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Longtime supporter of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit organization that invests in businesses that provide water, housing, health care, or other services to the very poor in developing countries
Vinod Khosla
Co-founder, Sun Microsystems
• Supports microfinance; announced in 2010 that he would use the $117-million he earned from the initial public offering of an Indian microfinance institution to start a venture fund that will invest in companies that provide services like health, education, and energy to the poor in developing countries
Charly and Lisa Kleissner
He is a former technology executive, and she is an architect
• Started Toniic, a network of socially minded investors in early-stage social enterprises
Pierre and Pam Omidyar
He is the founder of eBay, and she is a biologist by training
• Set up Omidyar Network, which makes grants and invests in businesses that focus on microfinance, entrepreneurship, property rights, government transparency, and technology platforms that connect people with shared interests, such as GlobalGiving and Meetup
Robert Pattillo
Former chief executive, Robert Pattillo Properties
• Supports microfinance; founded Grey Ghost Ventures, an investment company that focuses on microfinance, education, and other social enterprises