Potential of Corporations & Foundations together at Vatican Conference
Instead of pitting everyday citizens against billionaires and corporations, she urges unity and cohesion.
CASINA PIO IV, VATICAN CITY, Nov. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jennifer Gross, co-founder of Blue Chip Foundation, spoke at a Vatican conference in early November to highlight the tremendous potential that large corporations and foundations have as forces for good. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences invited Gross to speak at The Science and Ethics for Happiness and Well-Being conference at Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, as it has done several times in the past, due to her extensive experience in philanthropic work.
Gross believes that corporations, foundations and the wealthy can work together to help create a level playing field for everyone. Her foundation addresses the root causes of global poverty and works toward the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Gross herself attends regular conferences at the Vatican, and she plays a vital role in the Ethics in Action Committee. Blue Chip Foundation recently partnered with Sir Paul McCartney and Emma Stone in the "Who Cares? I Do" anti-bullying campaign and founded " Get on the Bus! " in partnership with Generation Human Rights , a traveling education exhibit designed to help high-schoolers connect global issues to local issues.
Gross's father, Billionaire Bill Gross – a U.S. Navy veteran, investor, fund manager, co-founder of Pimco, and philanthropist – heads the William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation. The foundation made grants totaling nearly $20 million in 2019, benefiting recipients that include Doctors Without Borders, the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, Action Against Hunger, the CHOC Foundation, and the Wilcox Health Foundation.
"Both [Bill and Jennifer] are extraordinarily generous and caring individuals," said Dr. Jeff Sachs, professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Dr. Sachs co-hosted the Vatican conference. "Jennifer spoke with great humility, love for her father and commitment to the purpose of the discussion, which is to find ethical solutions for a world that is being destabilized by extreme deprivation, unprecedented inequalities and dire environmental devastation."
