Linda

Big congrats to my colleague Linda Segre -- today the press is covering her appointment to become Diamond Foods' head of strategy and business development. We recruited Linda to Google.org back in 06 to help structure the chaos, and much of the credit for DotOrg's organizing initiatives and strategic recruitment is owing to Linda. She will excel again.

Changing administations & next chapters

Hello.

In June I began telling colleagues and friends that, after 3+ years with Google's philanthropic effort Google.org, I'm stepping aside as the new team takes shape. As a member of launch team for "DotOrg" and as one of two Managing Directors reporting to former Executive Director Dr. Larry Brilliant, I have nothing but thanks and gratitude for the challenges and opportunities presented. This has been an amazing ride in so many ways.

I fondly recall those early "where do we begin?" team meetings -- as we explored avenues for the company's innovation and technology to deploy in fields of global public health and pandemics, economic development and poverty, and energy & climate change. We called upon many field experts and thought leaders, and researched and debated approaches for how to scale solutions. By 2008 Dotorg had grown to about 40 people, launched aggressive initiatives where Google would fund >$100m to orgs with bold promise, and was becoming recognized in news articles, blogs and philanthropic conferences for pushing data-driven, outcome-based philanthropic approaches.

Following Larry's departure, announced last February, I've been working with the new leadership as we assessed DotOrg's goals and strengths. One decision we made in May is the new philanthropic team will focus on internal engineering efforts with a product focus, versus tactical grantmaking and social investments where many of us were working.

I'll finish up at the end of August, and am eager to begin an overdue vacation. I've been invited to Madagascar this fall to visit a few scientific research centers and photograph the lemurs ... looking probable.

In a company abundant with exceptionally talented people, I'm particular proud of and thankful to my investments and grants teams, and for Larry, Sheryl, Linda, Dan, Sonal and Frank, and of course my good friend Megan.

About every day I'm asked what I think about the new direction for DotOrg, and if three years from now this next chapter will have proven to be better. I sincerely hope so, and am supportive and confident that the new team and approaches will lead to excellent ideas and products.

US philanthropic leaders with SG Ban Ki-moon, UN NYC 2008.

I'm between the SG's right shoulder and

Rockefeller Foundation's President, Judy Rodin.

(UN photo)

today

• Awoke around 930 following a late Saturday nite playing Carcassonne.
• Coffee with friends from work, engineers; going thru new feeds on Reader
• Learned about another game, Dominion and ordered it via amazon.
• Played ball with Lhotse, my aussie, near ballpark watching crowd arrive for day game vs. Reds
• Read NYTimes and a couple more blogs on the Kindle
• Dropped a few thoughts into some draft blogposts for later
• Read a chapter of Mannahatta that arrived yesterday thanks #TED
• Made a Mad Man new avatar haha
• Walking back from Whole Foods ran into a neighbor and friend, a lead scientist from Moore Foundation. We talked cloud computing for an hour while splitting an Allagash White at my loft.
• With Lhotse drove to Ocean Beach to meet up with surf friends to hang for a couple hours; didn't get in the water today waves too crumbly
• Reworked Ripple and Rise on guitar. Thanks #JGB and #Eddie Vedder
• Watched Season 2, Episode 1 of Flight of the Conchords
• iTunes podcast (replay) of yesterday's NPR's @waitwait.
• Sleep by 10.

Realizing am looking forward to seeing the ads below that'll appear from a recap of an outstanding weekend day in beautiful SF.