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Shared Prosperity

We aim to reduce disparities and to promote shared success in society, betting on innovators and collaborative efforts to increase competitiveness and prosperity for all.

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Reimagine New York Commission

A commission chaired by Eric Schmidt that made recommendations, now in implementation, to build back a better and more resilient New York with greater opportunity for all. The Commission issued 21 recommendations in early 2021 aimed at building a more resilient and equitable New York by reducing the digital divide, improving access to telehealth, and creating more and better employment in an increasingly digital economy. As a result, New York passed a first-in-the-nation law to secure universally affordable and accessible broadband for all. The Commission’s final report, Action Plan for a Reimagined New York, was released on March 31, 2021. Schmidt Futures supported the Commission’s work and is now helping to mobilize the philanthropic effort to implement key recommendations.

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Alliance for the American Dream

The Alliance for the American Dream is a network of communities, each anchored by a public research university, that will provide access to capital and access to market for new ideas to support distressed communities locally. In its inaugural effort, the Alliance challenged citizens in four communities to develop policy ideas or startup concepts that increase net income for 10,000 local, middle-class households by 10% by 2020, either by raising income or decreasing cost of living (e.g., in transportation, housing, utilities, food). Proposals that are interdisciplinary, grounded in AI/data science, and drawn from diverse sets of people received special consideration for future investment

Afghan Future Fund

The Afghan Future Fund is a partnership between Schmidt Futures and the Yalda Hakim Foundation to support talented Afghan civil society leaders, women’s advocates, women university students, and others whom the fund evacuated from Kabul through multiple airlifts. The Fund is providing for the care of these refugees while working to resettle them permanently. Beyond these basic needs, AFF is unique in its focus on developing the high-potential human capital of Afghans: enabling their long-term education and cultivating professional opportunities to put their skills and talents to work. The Fund is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

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Learning Engineering

The Learning Engineering program aims to improve our fundamental understanding of how people learn and how we can customize teaching to increase student outcomes globally. The program recruits science talent, creates partnerships between university researchers and owners of digital platforms, and scales the lessons from those partnerships to reach a growing number of students.

Families and Workers Fund

The Families and Workers Fund is a five-year collaborative effort bringing together more than 20 philanthropies who are dedicated to building a more equitable economy that uplifts all. Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a once-in-a-generation opening to improve the lives of workers and their families, FWF deploys funding and builds partnerships to help repair and reimagine the systems that fuel economic security, opportunity and mobility. The Fund seeks to advance jobs that sustain and uplift people and also invest in the development of a more inclusive, effective public benefits system, with a focus on unemployment insurance. FWF is co-chaired by Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation and Eric Braverman, CEO, Schmidt Futures.

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Opportunity Engines

The Opportunity Engines program aims to mobilize talent with innovative ideas to increase wages for low-income workers through job-training initiatives that use technology to help more people at scale. Longer term, the program also aims to catalyze “10x” public sector investment to speed the adoption of successful models by postsecondary training institutions such as community colleges.  We aim to provide a pathway for low-income workers to advance their careers and earn not just a living wage, but an income that can support families and provide real economic security.

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Work we’re doing for society

We imagine a future in which everyone can benefit from the progress of the digital age. We bet on innovators, sometimes from a young age and for life, and build teams promoting thoughtful uses of technology and shared prosperity.