Facebook’s Zuckerberg Launches Advocacy Group Fwd.us

Billionaire Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday the launch of a nonprofit organization expected to spend millions of dollars pushing to overhaul immigration and education and urging a greater investment in scientific research, the Los Angeles Times and TechCrunch write.

The new 501(c)(4) social-welfare group, Fwd.us, has raised $25-million and involves several other leading technology executives, including Yahoo head Marissa Mayer and Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google. Mr. Zuckerberg unveiled the effort in a Washington Post opinion column that focused on the economic benefits of immigration policies geared to attracting and retaining people with technology and entrepreneurial skills.

It marks a significant step into the political arena for the Facebook co-founder, who has entered the front ranks of American philanthropists in recent years with a $100-million gift to the Newark, N.J., school system and a $500-million donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.