November 9, 2015

We’ve had so much opportunity in our lives, and we feel a deep responsibility to make the world a better place for future generations. We’ve benefited from good health, great education and support from committed families and communities. We believe that in the next generation, all of our children should grow up living even better lives and striving for even more than we think is possible today.

Advancing human potential and promoting equality drives our work. We have already made long term commitments to improving education, science and health — focused everywhere from our local community in the Bay Area to around the world.

As we expand our giving, we will continue supporting the strongest leaders with the most promising ideas for advancing progress and equality around the most important challenges for the next generation — from public education to health care, from life sciences research to energy and internet connectivity.

We’ll make long term bets that others won’t make and that will take a decade or longer to achieve their goals. We’ll learn from each project and apply those lessons to future work. That’s why we’re starting and making this commitment now while we’re still early in our careers — so we can gain experience early and become more effective in our giving over time.

We salute the Giving Pledge movement, and are proud to be part of its declaration that those who have been fortunate should give back at least half of their wealth during their lifetimes. The needs of our world are great. We believe passionately that people should not wait to give back. Our giving is just starting and we commit to being active learners, listeners and participants for years to come. We’ll devote our resources as well as our personal time and energy. We will spend our lives working to make sure future generations have the greatest opportunities possible.