Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen | |
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![]() Arrillaga-Andreessen in 2011 | |
Born | Laura Arrillaga 1969 or 1970 (age 53–54)[1] |
Education | Stanford University (BA, MA, MBA) |
Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, author |
Spouse | |
Children | 1 |
Parent |
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Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen (born 1969/1970) is an American[2] educator[3] and author.[4]
She is the founder and president of the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation, a private operating foundation that describes itself as a philanthropic "innovation lab",[5] and founded the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), a venture philanthropy fund.[6] She is also the author of Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World.
Arrillaga-Andreessen was born in Palo Alto, California, the daughter of Frances C. Arrillaga and billionaire real estate developer John Arrillaga, Sr.[4] She received a BA (1992) and MA (1999) in Art History from Stanford University, an MA (1998) in Education from Stanford School of Education, and an MBA (1997) from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[7][8]
While attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Arrillaga-Andreessen developed a business plan for an organization to teach philanthropy and make grants based on venture capital firm investment strategies.[4] The organization became the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), which Arrillaga-Andreessen founded in 1998 and served as its chairman until 2008; she is currently its chairman emeritus.[4][6][9]
In 2006, she founded and serves as board chairman of Stanford PACS (Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society), a social change research center. [6] She has been an Instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business since 2000 and teaches courses on philanthropy and on leadership.[8]
In 2011, Arrillaga-Andreessen's book Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World was published by Jossey-Bass,[10][6] and she writes about philanthropy for The Huffington Post and other publications.[8]
In 2015, Arrillaga-Andreesen penned a story for T, the style magazine of the New York times, which hyped various companies including AirBNB and Theranos, the now-disgraced healthcare startup. Arrillaga-Andreesen failed to disclose in the article that her husband, Marc Andreesen, was a major investor in both of those companies, resulting in the Times decision to make a rare admission that the article was a clear conflict of interest. [11]
Arrillaga-Andreessen has said her mother's volunteer work was a strong influence on her when she was growing up in Palo Alto.[12] She became active in philanthropy after her mother's early death from cancer.[4][13] Arrillaga-Andreessen married Marc Andreessen in 2006.[14] The couple have one son. Arrillaga-Andreessen and her husband co-founded the Marc and Laura Andreessen Foundation. Arrillaga-Andreessen is the Foundation's president.
In 2022, Arrillaga-Andreessen and her husband advocated against the construction of 131 multifamily housing units in their affluent town, Atherton, California.[15]
In 2001, Arrillaga-Andreessen received the Jacqueline Kennedy Award for Women in Leadership and in April 2005 became a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.[8] She was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award from the Points of Light Foundation in June 2005 and Silicon Valley Children and Family Services' Outstanding Philanthropist Award in 2009.[8] In 2011, she and Marc Andreessen received Global Citizen Awards from the Global Philanthropy Forum of the World Affairs Councils of America.[8]