SOURCE OF WEALTH: MicroStrategy
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Human Services & Health
OVERVIEW: Michael Saylor established the Saylor Foundation in the late 1990s, which now goes by the name the Constitution Foundation. A centerpiece of Saylor’s philanthropy is Saylor.org, a nonprofit that offers free and open online courses.
BACKGROUND: Michael J. Saylor received an S.B. in aeronautics and astronautics and an S.B. in science, technology, and society from MIT. Saylor worked for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as a venture manager and for Federal Group as a consultant before founding MicroStrategy in 1989. The company is a leading worldwide provider of enterprise software platforms.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: In 2008, Michael Saylor launched Saylor.org, a free education initiative of his foundation. The nonprofit has grown to offer some 100 full-length free courses at the college and professional levels. Saylor prioritizes harnessing the power of technology to reduce the cost of education. The organization offers dozens of courses across categories like art history, computer science, history, and physics. It partners with a number of different institutions and organizations that offer college credit and/or recognition to students who successfully complete select courses.
Saylor also directs grants via his foundation to select schools and youth organizations. Grantees have included Fairborn City Schools in Ohio, Fight for Children, Jill’s House in Virginia, which “provides care and support to children with special needs and their families through overnight respite care,” and ISKME in California, “an independent, education nonprofit whose mission is to improve the practice of continuous learning, collaboration, and change in the education sector.”
ARTS & CULTURE: Saylor, via his foundation, has supported Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Washington Ballet, Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
HUMAN SERVICES & HEALTH: Grantees have included Elton John AIDS Foundation, amfAR, Knock Out Abuse Against Women, and Not Alone, which provides free, confidential programs and services to military Americans and families.
LOOKING FORWARD: Annual grantmaking at Saylor’s foundation has waned in recent years, but expect his focus on free education to continue.
CONTACT:
The Constitution Foundation lists contact information and appears to accept unsolicited requests:
Michael J. Saylor
1850 Towers Crescent Plaza
Vienna, VA 22182
Telephone: 703-848-8600
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