Family Values: Behind Arcus Foundation's Gift for Racial Justice

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Family Values: Behind Arcus Foundation's Gift for Racial Justice

The longer you hang around philanthropy, the more you'll realize how deeply family background influences people's giving. Read through the letters of the Giving Pledge members, for example, and you'll see that many philanthropists learned to give by watching their parents. While tracking prominent philanthropic families we've also often been struck by how closely the apple falls to the tree in terms of social values.

Again and again, the next generation works to push forward ideals learned at home with their giving—whether it's an emerging progressive donor like Alexander Soros championing human rights or the libertarian philanthropist Rebekah Mercer working as a team with her hedge fund father, Robert. 

Jon and Pat Stryker are also examples of philanthropists whose values were deeply shaped by their family. They are the grandchildren of Homer Stryker, the founder of a medical device company, and the children of Lee Stryker, who dramatically expanded that company before dying in a plane crash in 1976...

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