Too often major-gift fundraisers ignore potential donors of color. That’s a big mistake. Roughly 14 percent of millionaires are people of color, and that number seems likely to grow as demographics keep changing. Here are a few philanthropists to keep an eye on.
Malú and Carlos Alvarez
The Mexican-born couple made their fortune in beer. After cutting his teeth working for the Mexico City company that brews Corona, Carlos started his own firm, the Gambrinus Company, in San Antonio, Tex., in 1986. Three years later, he bought Spoetzl Brewery, the maker of Shiner Bock beer, and turned it around from a flagging local enterprise to a $130 million national brand.
Many philanthropists on the Chronicle‘s annual ranking of America’s biggest donors gave to advance racial justice, Covid relief, and anti-poverty efforts.
The couple are longtime supporters of education, and in 2020, they also gave $1 million to increase coronavirus testing in San Antonio. In December, the Alvarezes gave a $1 million challenge grant to the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio. The money will go to the colleges’ AlamoPromise scholarship program, which bridges gaps left by financial-aid packages — covering as many as three years of tuition and fees for students from certain local high schools. In 2019, the couple gave $1 million to endow a scholarship fund for international students at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Alvarez also contributed $1 million each to the University of California at Davis and Oregon State University in 2015 to support programs in fermentation science.
Jie Du
The biopharmaceutical entrepreneur was born in China and moved to the United States to attend the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. Du became fluent in English during college and went on to earn a doctorate in pharmaceutics at Pacific as well. In 2008, she founded JDP Therapeutics, serving as the company’s chief executive until she sold it in 2019. The profit from that sale inspired Du to double down on philanthropy.
Last year, she donated $5 million to her alma mater to establish the Jie Du Center for Innovation and Excellence for Drug Development at the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy.
Eileen Harris Norton
A former elementary schoolteacher and native Angelino, Harris Norton began collecting art during her marriage to the software developer Peter Norton. They also supported political, environmental, and social-service nonprofits through their foundation.
After the couple divorced in 2000, Harris Norton continued to be active in the local arts scene. She started Art + Practice in 2014 with artist Mark Bradford and activist Allan DiCastro. The organization — which is temporarily shuttered during the pandemic — offers gallery space, free arts programs, and case management for young people in foster care. Last year, she gave $5 million to endow a new chair at CalArts School of Art and fund research, creative activities, and new curriculum development for Black and underrepresented faculty members. Named the Charles Gaines Faculty Chair, the new position honors and is now held by the conceptual artist Charles Gaines, who has been a faculty member at CalArts for 30 years. Black and underrepresented faculty will have priority for the chair position in the future.
Mellody Hobson
The financier and financial-literacy advocate is a heavy hitter. She is co-CEO of Ariel Investments, an investment company with more than $14 billion under management, and in March, she will become chairwoman of the Starbucks Board of Directors.
Hobson is a powerhouse philanthropist as well. Last year, she gave an undisclosed amount to Princeton University to establish Hobson College, a new residential college set to open in fall 2026. She made the gift to her alma mater in partnership with the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, which she funds with her husband, filmmaker George Lucas. Hobson College will be the first residential college at Princeton to honor a Black woman and replaces Wilson College — the university’s first residential college, which trustees voted to rename last year because of the former U.S. president’s racist beliefs and actions. Hobson says she hopes her gift sends a message to students of color: “Renaming Wilson College is my very personal way of letting them know that our past does not have to be our future.”
In 2016, Hobson and Lucas gave $1 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s capital campaign. In 2015, they contributed $10 million to endow a scholarship fund for students of color at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
Jrue and Lauren Holiday
The pro athletes started dating as students at the University of California at Los Angeles, where Jrue played basketball and Lauren played soccer. Each went on to a career in professional sports. Jrue has played in the NBA since 2009 and is now a point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks. Lauren is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and played midfield and forward on the U.S. women’s national soccer team.
Last year, they contributed $5 million to establish the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Impact Fund. The new nonprofit will make grants to nonprofits, historically Black colleges, and Black-owned businesses. It will also provide funds to social-service programs that support people of color in New Orleans, where the couple lived for seven years, as well as Jrue’s hometown of Los Angeles and Lauren’s hometown of Indianapolis.
Shahid Khan
The billionaire businessman was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States at age 16 to study engineering. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Khan quickly made his mark in manufacturing and later bought the Jacksonville Jaguars and a London professional soccer team, the Fulham Football Club.
Since 2007, Khan has supported the health sciences through his foundation. He and his wife, Ann, who attended the same college, have been longtime supporters of their alma mater and have made gifts to support the performing arts, athletics, and the College of Business, among other programs. In 2011, they contributed $10 million to fund the Khan Annex at the College of Applied Health and Sciences.
Mei-Lee Ney
Ney was born in Shanghai and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was a child. She followed her father into banking and met her late husband, the investment banker and former actor Richard Ney, as business partners at his California investment firm.
Ney is an active supporter of the arts in greater Los Angeles, serving as a trustee at multiple institutions. Last year’s calls for racial justice inspired Ney to contribute $1 million for scholarships and a new diversity, equity, and inclusion executive position at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. In 2018, Ney donated $20 million to the University of Southern California to establish the Ney Center for Healthspan Science at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
