Note From the Founders

I hope this note finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Amidst so many global events and disruptions, thank you for taking the time to read this inaugural newsletter. 

My husband Peter and I co-founded the Blue Chip Foundation in 2012 to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The COVID-19 crisis has upended much of the world’s SDG planning, programming, and progress. Yet the SDGs have never been more important, as they guarantee rights and resources, like access to health, food and shelter, that are essential for not only combatting the COVID pandemic, but for reducing the risk of future pandemics, too. 

National crises of racism and police brutality have once again uncovered the inequalities rampant in our communities and demonstrated even further need for a commitment to the aims of the SDGs both at home and abroad.

The world will look different in the post-COVID era. We can only hope it will look different after this moment of national unrest. Now is the moment to decide how the philanthropic community, including the Blue Chip Foundation, will rise up and help to rebuild our systems in ways that are more just and more sustainable than before. Blue Chip hopes to engage with the broader giving community during this reimagining and rebuilding process, to learn from others’ ideas and share our own in ways that champion transparency and collaboration. 

Recent global events demonstrate just how much our social, political, economic and environmental issues are interconnected. COVID exacerbates public health inequities and racial injustice. The criminal justice and bail system exaggerate poverty. Environmental risks are disproportionately higher for more economically vulnerable populations. The Sustainable Development Goal framework is one of the first development frameworks that attempts to reflect this. It is time for our philanthropy to do more, too.

This newsletter will be our way of processing and sharing what we’re learning as we navigate the challenge - and opportunity - of how philanthropy can help to build back better here, in the US, and around the world. We believe that the ethos of holistic philanthropy must go beyond giving - it is the unique privilege and responsibility of philanthropy to draw connections between the systems we engage with and the worlds we inhabit. The SDGs call on all of us to strive for large-scale

We are honored to share a part of this learning journey with you, and we welcome your thoughts, inputs, and feedback on how we can improve.

Please stay safe, 

Jenn and Peter

Note From The Founders