The Queen of Philanthropy
Whenever I think of a queen, I think of Queen Bey (sorry Elizabeth). Just simply experiencing her presence at a concert in Los Angeles last summer knocked me over with the truth of her supremacy. And this past Wednesday, our CS+Social Good class had the pleasure of speaking with another, similar queen, the Queen of Philanthropy: Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen.
Arrillaga means something here on Stanford campus — there’s a joke that every other building is an Arrillaga building. There is truth behind every joke, however, and this one happens to showcase the generosity of the Arrillaga family and Laura’s personal dedication to philanthropy. Laura is both a member of the Stanford Class of 1992 and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Class of 1997. While at the GSB, she drafted the business plan of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) that has since made substantial impact in the Valley, and in 2000, joined the GSB faculty to teach higher education’s first field-based philanthropy course. She founded, and serves as board chair of, Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society in 2006, and went on to found the hugely influential Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation (LAAF) in 2013.
Just as Beyonce inspires with her flawlessness, Laura inspires with her strong-will, empathy, and philanthropic core. Coming into our class during her first week back from maternity leave, she shared with us her life journey and personal beliefs.
In a candid and humorous manner, she separated her life up until this point into 4 parts:
1. Flop Sweating
2. Divinity in Disguise
3. Your Unique Value Proposition
4. The Most Important Decision of Your Life
She shared with us her social nervousness during undergrad, her moment of personal discovery during her year acting as her mother’s primary caregiver as she struggled with lung cancer, her handwriting of the business plan for SV2 on 3 pages of notes during business school, and her marriage to Marc Andreessen. Through these stories, we got a glimpse into how her life experiences have shaped her into the influential force she is today.
I was especially taken by 2 of these 4 parts. The first is “The Most Important Decision of Your Life” that is, as Laura clarified, “who you choose to be your partner in life.” As a fan of Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In,” I saw a parallel between these two women’s messages. And especially as a woman in tech, I recognize that my choice in my future marriage is made even more important. A partner, if chosen correctly, is the source of mutual growth. Thanks to Laura, her husband, Marc Andreessen, has become one of the most vocal philanthropic voices in venture capital.
The second is “Your Unique Value Proposition.” In guiding what we want to do in our lives, Laura proposes 2 questions to ask, “What is my unique value? What does value mean to me?” While leading a project for social good for the past year, I have frequently asked those questions of myself. It can be an uphill battle at times to believe in your mission through inevitable doubt, but identifying and holding on to our personal ideals of value can be the motivation to pull us through.
I am very grateful to have had to opportunity to learn from Laura in CS 90SI. I will end this post with my 2 favorite quotes from the talk that have inspired me. Hopefully, they will inspire you too.
“Aspire for the unachievable. If you don’t aspire for the unachievable, how will you reach your fullest potential?”
“The perfect moment to start changing the world is not tomorrow, the future or when you graduate, but today and now.”
