I’ve been living in the Bay Area for a little over 15 years, since heading West from the Chicago suburbs to attend Stanford University back in 2001. In 2006, I began working for Facebook as a software engineer and promptly moved to San Francisco.

Having been passionate about electronic music since my early teens, I quickly immersed myself in San Francisco’s dance music community, a vibrant scene with a cast of creative characters. Being a part of this world offered me a set of alternative experiences and a counterpoint to the stereotypical Silicon Valley experience. It fed my insatiable musical appetite and allowed me to build a set of meaningful new relationships outside of work. It simultaneously made me grateful for the great relationships and camaraderie that I had in my professional environment while making me appreciate that work alone does not check these boxes for everyone.

In 2012, I opened a donor-advised fund with The San Francisco Foundation. At a high level, the majority of my giving is based on the philosophy of effective altruism, heavily guided by the research of GiveWell. But I also feel that our local culture and creative community are particularly important and difficult to assess or quantify.

Read the full article about donor funds from The San Francisco Foundation