Hi there and welcome to e-mail newsletter #23!

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MacKenzie Scott

For every newsletter I feature a person, animal, or plant that inspired or intrigued me. It is a moment of reflection and gratitude, meant to find lessons and nurture curiosity. Last week I featured the polar bear, while prior weeks included animals like the axolotl, the albatross, and luminaries such as Buckminster Fuller and Sylvia Earle.

This week I am featuring the novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. She is better known as the former spouse of Jeff Bezos, and one of Amazon.com’s early employees, helping found the company and run it in its early years. But she emerges as a notable figure in the realm of philanthropy and because of her far-reaching impact she is worth our attention: in fact, she is on track to become the most generous person in history, by value of funds donated, with more than $14.1 billion given to at least 1,621 charities since 2020.

The Mystique of Philanthropy

For years I have been fascinated with philanthropy. I am not sure exactly why. To me, the idea of giving and receiving money is awe-inspiring: the giver relinquishes material resources, that so many people (including yours truly) strive for, and dedicate a large part of their life toward. Funds and resources are obviously valuable to the giver, as they are often hard earned and endowed with a deeply personal meaning, or they can be used for personal pursuits. Think of all the yachts, cars, vacations, mansions, adventures money can buy!

Also, the receiver has an opportunity to pursue worthy goals that he or she had limited possibilities to accomplish prior to receiving a philanthropic gift. The fact that donations are entirely voluntary makes them subject to influences and subjectivity that always affect that decision one way or another.  So it is a field rich (no pun intended), filled with philosophical questions: how much to donate? What causes to donate to? Who donates and who doesn’t? Who should donate? How does that giver-receiver relationship gets formed, does it endure, and does it change either of them in a meaningful way? Charity is filled with spiritual significance, and it is no surprise it is often a core precept of many religions, including Judaism and Christianity, for example.

In modern times, a notable example and arguably a bench mark in philanthropic giving is Chuck Feeney, who I featured in newsletter 17, and who gave away almost all of his amassed wealth. A former billionaire, he anonymously donated $8 billion to charities, universities and organizations worldwide, then set aside about $2 million for his and his wife's retirement. In other words, from every $100,000 that he had amassed, he gave away $99,975, and only kept $25.

The MacKenzie Scott Way

After finalizing her divorce from Bezos in 2019, MacKenzie Scott became one of the wealthiest women on the planet due to her substantial settlement: more than $35billion in Amazon stock. However, what set her apart was not just her immense wealth but her commitment to giving back and making a substantial impact through her philanthropic endeavors. She signed the Giving Pledge, a charitable-giving campaign in which she undertook to give away most of her wealth to charity over her lifetime or in her will.

Scott quickly became recognized for her distinctive approach to charitable giving. Instead of establishing her own foundation which is a fairly typical strategy for affluent folks (see the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for example), she adopted a more direct and hands-on approach to donating her wealth. In a series of substantial and rapid donations, she sought to address societal challenges by supporting various causes and organizations, mainly focusing on those advocating for racial equality, economic mobility, healthcare, and education.

While there are of course critics that can emerge, it is important to recognize that Mackenzie Scott used a team of advisors and employed the collective knowledge of multiple experts. They looked at more than 6,000 organizations in 2020 alone, carried out hundreds of hours of research and due diligence, wrote thousands of pages of data analysis on community needs, program outcomes, and each non-profit organization’s capacity to absorb and make effective use of new funding.

The team published detailed accounts of her donations on her website, outlining the recipients and the specific amounts given. This transparency makes for wonderful data to analyze and not only set a precedent in the philanthropic world but also encouraged other wealthy individuals to consider similar approaches to their charitable giving.

MacKenzie and her advisors personally made the phone calls to the various organizations directly to deliver the news. This resulted in heartfelt moments and conversations as veteran nonprofit leaders on the receiving end were often moved to tears when learning of the grant, and the impact they could have as a result.

One of the most remarkable aspects of MacKenzie Scott's philanthropy was her emphasis on giving unrestricted, significant gifts to organizations. Her approach contrasted with traditional philanthropy, where donors often impose restrictions on how their donations can be used: through the so-called controlling “dead hand of the donor”.

Scott's philanthropic strategy demonstrated a strong understanding of the systemic issues that plague societies worldwide. By supporting organizations that work to address these issues at their roots, she aimed to create lasting, positive change rather than just offering temporary solutions. Scott consistently supported smaller, grassroots and community-based organizations, recognizing their important roles in enacting change at the local level. Her sizable contributions have the ability to be transformational and make a profound impact on numerous nonprofits, enabling them to expand their operations, launch new initiatives, and amplify their impact within their communities.

Mackenzie Scott’s dedication to addressing societal issues through substantial and unrestricted donations challenges the traditional ways of philanthropy, emphasizing the importance of accountability, simplicity, transparency, efficiency and a commitment to empowering grassroots initiatives.

MacKenzie Scott likely became world famous for helping start Amazon.com and being Jeff Bezos’ wife. But she will make history and change thousands of lives for the better because of her generosity. Her approach serves as a model for philanthropists worldwide, encouraging a more deliberate and impactful deployment of wealth for the betterment of humanity.

Sources:

• https://yieldgiving.com/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacKenzie_Scott

• “Charities Aid Foundation” Podcast - January 26, 2021 Episode MacKenzie Scott & The Reimagining of Philanthropy

• “Apple News Today - In Conversation” Podcast - June 26, 2021 Episode Belinda Luscombe on MacKenzie Scott giving away her fortune

Mindset

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” - Harry Truman

In the Works

On the action front, I cleaned up at Tyler State Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, before heading on a quick Thanksgiving vacation (more on that below). This was an enjoyable one hour and twenty minute hike, as the area is beautiful this time of the year. I cleaned up at this location and around Neshaminy Creek in late November 2022, so it felt great to return and focus on a different part of the park this time around.

A finding toward the end of the trail made me ponder: what is worse for a tree? When humans carve their initials in its bark, or spray paint a smiley face on it?

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had the privilege to vacation for a few days in Jamaica, and stayed at the FDR resort in the northern part of the island, about one hour East of Montego Bay. I did not pack my Waterhaul litter grabber (which I previously used when traveling), but ended up not needing it and carried out a few bare-handed cleanups in and around the resort:

• Picked small pieces of water balloon leftovers from the beach and the Caribbean Sea: remnants of kids’ activities. I spoke to both the manager and the owner about this, and recommended alternative activities that do not involve leaving debris behind, that staff (or others…) have to then gather after it’s been spread all over. The owner agreed such “disposable” water balloons generate litter and pollution, so hopefully the resort will sunset this type of entertainment…

• Borrowed the net pole from the pool lifeguard and used it to pick up a floating PET bottle drifting in the waves.

• Filled a large trash bag and a half with random debris from the gully in between our resort and the one next to it: mostly food packaging, beverage containers, and lots of single-use plastic.

On the knowledge and education front, I am continuing the Terra.do Learning for Action online program on climate change fundamentals, now in Week 7/12. The highlight this week was a presentation by Alison Smart, from Probable Futures: a platform that offers interactive maps, science, historical context, and stories to help envision a range of climate futures. It is a free, web-based educational tool that can model the local impact of various warming scenarios for Earth’s rising temperature, such as average number of days of drought in a particular area over a given time horizon. The model is helpful when it comes to policy, preparation, and adaptation to a gradually warming global climate.

Cleaning up part of the drainage canal in Jamaica this week reminded me of the work of the nonprofit organization The Ocean Cleanup: one of their major projects, in addition to picking up floating plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is installing interceptor barriers on various rivers around the world to catch debris and plastic before it reaches the ocean. One such interceptor is in the Kingston Harbor, in Barnes Gully, Jamaica. Hopefully next time I travel to Jamaica I will get to see it! I include below my detailed account of their work:

If you found this newsletter helpful or interesting, please share with your friends, contacts, and anyone you know who may benefit from following my journey. Let’s gain some knowledge, and take action toward a cleaner, healthier world!

Thank you.

Razvan