HIGHER EDUCATION & HEALTH
Mark Stevens and his wife Mary state in their Giving Pledge letter that supporting their alma maters--USC and Santa Clarita University, that received millions--has been a high priority of their early philanthropy. The couple has shown an interest in health philanthropy, Stevens mentioning his “burgeoning interest in neuroscience.”
Mark Stevens
High-Tech Venture Capitalist and Philanthropist
HEALTH:
Neuroscience is a major interest of the Stevenses demonstrated by their $50 million grant to endow and name the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute. The Stevenses state in their Giving Pledge letter that while education has been a priority, “more recently, we have extended our support to other areas including health care research (cancer and neurological diseases), local health care delivery, the environment and community organizations.” It is worth noting that Stevens’ father has Alzheimer’s and one of the couple’s sons is dyslexic. The couple also recently gave $1.5 million to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) towards a cancer research center named in memory of their late friend, Father Paul Locatelli, S.J. They’ve also supported neuroscience at Stanford.
HIGHER EDUCATION:
The Stevens’ are longtime supporters of K-12 as well as higher education. They have been prolific donors to their college alma maters (USC, Santa Clara and Harvard Business School). Mark currently serves as a Trustee at USC and Mary serves in the same role at Santa Clara). Their gifts to USC include a $22 million gift to establish the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, a $50 million gift to support the USC Stevens Neuroimaging Institute, and two $10 million gifts to establish the Stevens Student Athlete Academic Center and the refurbishment of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. At Santa Clara, their $7 million gift enabled the construction of the Paul L. Locatelli Student Activities Center, a $7.7 million gift to support the soccer program and a $10 million gift for a student athlete academics floor in the new Schott athletic center. The Stevens’ have also been major benefactors at Stanford in support of a variety of initiatives. Mary and Mary have also generously supported Sacred Heart School (Atherton), Menlo School and St. Mary’s Academy (Portland).
BACKGROUND:
Mark Stevens’ first job was at a Jack in the Box in Culver City, California. He paid for most of his USC undergraduate degree with a combination of merit scholarships and savings from work. He also holds a masters degree from USC, and an MBA from Harvard. After stints at Intel and Hughes Aircraft, Stevens joined the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital in 1989, where he spent two decades. He still serves as special limited partner at Sequoia and was once a managing partner at the firm.
The Stevenses also have interests in the environmental sciences and sustainability.
The couple’s giving is still early, but expect much greater giving down the line.
"I suppose we are in the "early innings" of our philanthropy.
"I suppose we are in the "early innings" of our philanthropy. Our focus in the past ten years or so has been supporting our college and high school alma maters and our children's schools. More recently, we have extended our support to other areas including health care research (cancer and neurologic diseases), local health care delivery, the environment and community organizations. Over time, our philanthropic aperture will likely widen and, simultaneously, will deepen in a few areas that we feel especially passionate about. We hope that as our children reach adulthood that they will join us in our family's philanthropic mission."