Talks on Moore foundation, 'new philanthrophy' Talks on Moore foundation, 'new philanthrophy' (April 10, 2002)

Lewis Coleman, executive director of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, will describe the challenges of starting one of the country's largest foundations, at a Commonwealth Club/Silicon Valley reception Wednesday, April 10, at 6:30p.m. in the Stanford Room of Rickeys Palo Alto, 4219 El Camino Real.

Founded in late 2001 by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore of Woodside, the foundation has already made its mark. Last year it awarded Conservation International $261 million over 10 years.

In February, the Chronicle of Philanthropy named the Moores the most generous donors of 2001 in the whole United States. Their donation of more than $5.8 billion in Intel stock to their foundation _ plus a $300 million pledge to the California Institute of Technology _ was nearly twice the amount of the next two donations on the list.

The Moores' gift was followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose $2 billion raised the William H. III and Melinda Gates Foundation's endowment to $23 billion. The only other gift topping a billion dollars was James E. and Virginia G. Stowers' gift of $1.1 billion for the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansa City.

Other Peninsulans on the list of donors of more than $10 million include e-Bay founder Jeffrey S. Skoll, who gave $42.8 million to the Skoll Community Fund in San Jose; and Pehong and Adele Chen, who gave $15 million to Stanford University to establish an Institute of Astrophysics and Cosmology in their name at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park.
New venture philanthropy

The Commonwealth Club will sponsor another lecture, "Point/Counter Point: the Future of Philanthropy" Tuesday, April 23, at 6 p.m., at Stanford in the Bishop Auditorium of the South Building of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Sally Osberg, executive director of the Skoll Community Fund, will moderate a discussion on pros and cons of the new venture philanthropy versus traditional philanthropy. Panelists will be Bruce Sievers, executive director of the Haas Fund; and Kim Smith, a new voice for the venture community.

Mr. Coleman's talk will be preceded by registration and a reception at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $15 for Commonwealth Club members and $20 for others.

The April 23 panel will have a reception at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for Commonwealth Club members, and $15 for others.

For reservations to either event, call 1-800-847-7730; or register on-line at www.commonwealthclub.org.