Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
LauraArAn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
Birth date	1970
Birth place	Palo Alto, California, United States
Alma mater	Stanford University, Harvard Business School
Occupation	Philanthropist, author, educator
Spouse	Marc Andreessen

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is an American philanthropist, educator, author, and social entrepreneur known for pioneering models of strategic giving and philanthropy education. She has taught philanthropy at Stanford University, founded the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation and developed curricula linking nonprofit management, venture philanthropy, and donor strategy. Her work spans collaborations with leaders across sectors including technology, finance, academia, and nonprofit organizations.

Early life and education

Born in Palo Alto, California, she grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of Silicon Valley, attending local schools before matriculating at Stanford University, where she studied history and earned a bachelor's degree. After Stanford, she pursued graduate studies at Harvard Business School and engaged with programs at Oxford University and Columbia University through executive education and fellowships. Her early influences included exposure to Arthur Vining Davis Foundation-style philanthropy, mentorship from figures associated with Carnegie Corporation of New York, and family involvement reminiscent of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation philanthropy.

Career

She launched a career combining philanthropy with education, founding a nonprofit that would later become the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation and partnering with institutions such as Stanford Graduate School of Business, Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, and Independent Sector. Her teaching roles included courses at Stanford University and workshops connected to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grantee networks, collaborating with thought leaders from The Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Giving USA Foundation. She has advised donors working with intermediaries like Tides Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, and CAF America, as well as social enterprises linked to Ashoka, Skoll Foundation, and Echoing Green.

Her career intersects with technology and venture capital ecosystems, involving peers at Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Benchmark Capital, and Accel Partners, and connecting nonprofits to platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, and Google.org. She has engaged with public policy and civic initiatives led by entities like City of Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California State University system, and national programs associated with AmeriCorps.

Philanthropy and Giving 2.0

She advocates a model often described as "Giving 2.0," emphasizing effective grantmaking, impact measurement, and participatory philanthropy, aligning with practices promoted by Charity Navigator, GuideStar USA, and GiveWell. Her framework integrates methods from social return on investment advocates and evaluation tools used by Independent Sector and Stanford Social Innovation Review. She has convened donors alongside leaders from Foundation Center (now Candid), National Council of Nonprofits, Council on Foundations, European Foundation Centre, and Asia Philanthropy Circle to promote transparency and capacity building.

Arrillaga-Andreessen's approach encourages partnerships with organizations including United Way, American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, CARE, Oxfam, and World Wildlife Fund, and leverages corporate philanthropy models from Microsoft Philanthropies, AmazonSmile, Salesforce.org, and Cisco Foundation. She has emphasized collaborations across sectors referencing UNICEF, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Programme, and Global Fund initiatives.

Writing and public speaking

She authored "Giving 2.0," a book that synthesizes practical guidance for donors and funders while engaging audiences at venues such as TED, TEDx, Aspen Ideas Festival, Clinton Global Initiative, and World Economic Forum. She has lectured at universities including Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley, and appeared on media platforms like NPR, CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. Her public speaking has intersected with conferences run by Skoll World Forum, SXSW, TechCrunch Disrupt, Forbes 30 Under 30, and Fortune Most Powerful Women.

She has contributed essays and commentary for outlets such as Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Philanthropy News Digest, and has participated in panels featuring leaders from Melinda French Gates, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates-led philanthropic dialogues.

Personal life

She is married to Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and they reside in the San Francisco Bay Area with their children. Her family connections place her within networks that include Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investors at firms such as Greylock Partners, NEA, Union Square Ventures, and civic leaders from Palo Alto. She maintains affiliations with cultural institutions like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Stanford Live, and philanthropic boards including regional hospitals and educational nonprofits associated with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford Hospital.

Awards and recognition

Her work has been recognized by awards and honors from organizations such as Fast Company, NonProfit Times, Philanthropy World Expo, and academic citations from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. She has been listed among influencers in philanthropy by publications including Forbes, TIME Magazine, Fortune, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Business Insider. She has received fellowships and honors from institutions like Ashoka, Skoll Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University recognitions, and civic awards from Santa Clara County and the City of Palo Alto.

Category:American philanthropists Category:Stanford University alumni Category:Harvard Business School alumni