SOURCE OF WEALTH: Tiger Global Management, Investor and Entrepreneur
FUNDING AREAS: Economic Opportunity in California, education
OVERVIEW: Joe Sanberg founded the Golden State Opportunity Foundation, whose aim is to work to improve the lives of lower- and middle-income Californians. He has supported University of Riverside and other institutions in his native state.
BACKGROUND: A Southern California native, Joseph N. Sanberg graduated from Harvard Universisty. He began his career as an analyst at Blackstone’s private equity group and joined Tiger Global Management in 2004, becoming a managing director. Sanberg left Wall Street and is now an investor and entrepreneur. He is a founding investor in Blue Apron and co-founded Aspiration, a financial services company that works with middle-income investors.
ISSUES:
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: Sanberg founded the Golden State Opportunity Foundation, whose aim is to “work to improve the lives of lower and middle-income Californians through a program of research, analysis, public information and education.” Sanberg calls economic disparity “the most severe moral crisis we face as a nation” and his charitable work focuses exclusively on his home state of California. A major part of the foundation’s work so far is an initiative called CalEITC4Me. In 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown and lawmakers issued the earned income tax credit, a cash benefit aimed at the state’s poorest workers. The only way to earn the tax credit is to file an income tax return, and CalEITC4Me is embarking on an effort to increase the awareness about and availability of free tax preparation. CalEITC4Me will “employ state of the art data collection and analysis, first to reach the target audience most effectively, second, to evaluate our success in order to improve future efforts in California and other states and third, to determine how to best provide additional services.” Sanberg is looking to expand the program so that more people have access to it.
OTHER: Sanberg has funded two-year scholarships in his grandfather’s name for students at UC Riverside’s master of public policy program. Sanberg sits on the advisory board for UC Riverside’s School of Public Policy. He also sits on the board of Casa Teresa, an Orange County nonprofit that provides support to pregnant women, and started an international leadership program at his high school, Servite High School, a Roman Catholic prep school in Anaheim, California.
LOOKING FORWARD: Sanberg is only in his 30s but is already building a philanthropic resume. For now, expect his charitable focus to remain on California, particularly the Inland Empire region of Riverside and San Bernardino counties and Los Angeles.
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