Donation to Help Harness the Power of Ethical Investing and Innovation to Build a More Humane, Just, and Sustainable World
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 11, 2022—Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics today announced a new donation from the Lucas Brothers Foundation. The gift, which will be paid out over three years, will support the newly formed Lucas Program in Venture & Equity Ethics, as well as the Ethics Center’s Institute for Technology, Ethics, & Culture.
The Lucas Program in Venture & Equity Ethics
The Lucas Program in Venture Ethics will first produce a set of guidelines for venture capital and private equity investors focused on ethical investment. This will be the first in a suite of trainings and tools the center will produce in venture and equity ethics. The initiative will also establish a comprehensive training program for startups around ethical innovation and will establish a venture and equity ethics council and a venture ethics speaker series.
The Institute for Technology, Ethics, & Culture
The mission of the Institute for Technology, Ethics, & Culture (ITEC) at the Markkula Center is to help ensure the common good for humanity through ethical and responsible design, development, deployment, and use of technology. This initiative, in partnership with the Vatican, seeks to build a community of practitioners: A safe, collaborative, and creative space for interfaith, cross-cultural, and cross-functional thought leaders and a common set of metrics, reports, and processes that can be applied by companies around the world. The Ethics Center is currently leading the production of a practical handbook companies can use to operationalize the responsible use of technology.
Funds from the Lucas Brothers Foundation will be used to promote the handbook and other ITEC materials, including enlisting a former CEO or other executive to help engage other leaders. Additionally, funds will be used to expand the reach and impact of the ITEC materials, as well as for the production of use cases, toolkits, and other publications.
“We aim to put the materials produced through the ITEC program in the hands of tech company leadership to help embed ethical technology design and use into their organizations. At the same time, supporting ethical venture capital and equity investing is an important next step for the center,” said Don Heider, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. “This gift and its funding of these two programs is in line with a long history of ethics and integrity in investing from the Lucas family.”
About the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Founded in 1986 with a seed grant and initial endowment from Linda and A.C. “Mike” Markkula Jr., the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University brings the traditions of ethical thinking to bear on real world problems. Beyond a full range of programs for the SCU community, the Center also serves professionals in fields from business to health care, from government to the social sector, providing innovative approaches to problems from fake news to privacy protection. Through its website and international collaborations, the Center brings ethical decision-making resources to a global audience. For more information, please visit: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/.
Media Contact
Joel Dibble | Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University | 408-554-5116 | jdibble@scu.edu
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