In short, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan just made things a lot more interesting. They’re shuttering their private school, located in their home on their Palo Alto, CA, compound. The school, which provided an education to 14 students, including two of the couple’s daughters, was in violation of local zoning laws. This unexpected disclosure led us to make that choice. This new development has led to strong speculation about the couple’s commitment to more progressive social causes and their philanthropic focus changes.
The private school operated less than a mile away from another educational initiative founded by Zuckerberg and Chan in 2016, aimed at providing resources for low-income families. The private university’s departure from previous philanthropic traditions has sparked a nationwide conversation. Folks want to dig into what these new, groundbreaking decisions bode for supporting communities.
News accounts indicate that Priscilla Chan was displeased. She was frustrated with the lack of progress the school was making, and the pace of that progress. Now as the couple looks toward the future and new opportunities, they’ve chosen to move the school to avoid zoning battle. According to a spokesperson for Zuckerberg and Chan, the family was not aware of these local laws.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is taking a big step in that direction. That they’re pulling grants from nearly every affordable housing and homeless nonprofit in the entire state of the San Francisco Bay Area. This surprising decision has left many scratching their heads, including many who have cheered on their prior philanthropic efforts. Additionally, eliminating funding for diversity programs is a key plank of CZI’s new strategy, representing a complete turnaround from the fund’s earlier priorities.
Zuckerberg’s previous philanthropic endeavors included a high-profile $100 million donation to help reform Newark’s public school system back in 2010. Most specific to educators, they took him to task for his policies. They claimed that he brought a startup mentality and a magic bullet approach to longstanding education problems. As CZI rebrands itself as a “science-first philanthropy,” it is allocating funds primarily towards science and medical research rather than its previous social initiatives.
Many community members are already concerned about Marc Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s increasing disengagement from progressive causes. That’s just what they’ve done. They’ve encroached upon our neighborhood,” complained one resident, illustrating the rift between their philanthropy and prize-winning developments.