My Reflections on the Inspiring Chan/Zuckerberg Initiative

Last week, the Chan/Zuckerberg Initiative (whose mission is “Advancing human potential and promoting equality”) was indeed the story ALL over the world. In a moving open letter to their new baby daughter, pediatrician Dr. Pricilla Chan (30) and Mr. Mark Zuckerberg (31), CEO of Facebook, discussed putting many more funds toward "education and science and health and community building" than ever before with the establishment of this quite incredible initiative.

While they have shown remarkable generosity in past years with gifts of $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital and ~$100 million in different educational systems (Newark and the Bay Area), this initiative is on a far larger scale that encompasses 99% of the couple's Facebook stock

(currently valued at $45 billion). Said Mr. Zuckerberg, "Having this child has made us think about all of the things that should be improved in the world for her whole generation. The only way that we reach our full human potential is if we are able to unlock the gifts of every person around the world." Says Dr. Chan, "We need to make sure that there are investments in programs that ensure that the future isn't going to be like today. The future's going to be better than today."

Many of their comments directly spoke to health. "What does it take to make it so people don’t get sick anymore? Can we build more inclusive and welcoming communities?” asks Mr. Zuckerburg in the absorbing video that goes alongside the letter to the couple’s daughter Maxima.

We are incredibly moved to see generosity on this scale and are so heartened that turning around all kinds of inequalities, including healthcare equality, is a central part of the mission. Clearly, Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan have the chance to influence and mobilize so many other technology leaders, and it is exciting to see this mission from the start. We are moved at how open they are making it. Concludes Zuckerberg in the video: "You know, it's hard to move these things in short time. Right, these are big complex systems. Like doing anything that you want to well in the world, it just takes practice. You are not going to be perfect at it the first time, and in the projects that we are going to try to do in education and science and health and community building, we will learn lessons over the time and hopefully get better and better…I hope that, not just our child, but everyone in our community has an opportunity to go on and have an even bigger impact in the world." Bravo.

best,

Kelly Close