SOURCE OF WEALTH: Cofounder of Kingston Technologies
FUNDING AREAS: Health and Education
OVERVIEW: In 2001, David Sun and his wife, Diana, founded the Sun Family Foundation. The foundation made about $1.7 million in grants in a recent year, working mainly in California and the Suns’ native Taiwan.
BACKGROUND: David Sun is a Taiwanese immigrant whose life in the business world began when he met John Tu and started selling computer memory modules out of a garage. The business grew steadily until Black Monday, October 19, 1987, when the stock market crashed and Sun and Tu lost everything. Sun and Tu went on to found their second company, Kingston Technology which specializes in computer-related memory products and is now one of the 500 largest privately held companies in the world.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: The Suns’ education grantmaking has focused on organizations in California and Taiwan, with more than half of all grants going to higher education. In California, the foundation has provided ongoing support to the University of California Irvine and the Orange County Chinese American Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s scholarship program. In Taiwan, the couple supports Fu-Jen Catholic University.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The Suns’ health and human services grants appear to prioritize initiatives for senior citizens. Grantees include the Irvine Evergreen Chinese Senior Association and the Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center in Santa Ana, California. They also gave at least $100 million through their foundation to Hoag Hospital Foundation to expand the hospital’s Sun Family Campus in Irvine, California.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Suns tend to support a small group of grantees with who they have forged strong relationships. They will likely stick with their established areas of interest.
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