Karla Jurvetson

Karla Tinklenberg Jurvetson (born 1965/1966) is an American physician,[2] philanthropist, and political organizer who lives in Silicon Valley.[3]

Karla Jurvetson
Jurvetson in 2018
Born
Karla Tinklenberg

1965/1966 (age 53–54)[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationStanford University (B.A.)
University of California (M.D.)
Occupationphysician, psychiatrist philanthropist, political organizer
Home townPalo Alto, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Steve Jurvetson
(m. 1990; div. 2016)
Children2
Parent(s)

Early life and education

Jurvetson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and she grew up in Palo Alto, California. She has a younger sister, Julie Tinklenberg Callan. Their mother is Mae Tinklenberg, a retired nurse, and their father is Jared Tinklenberg,[4] a retired professor and physician. She earned a bachelor's degree in human biology with distinction and with honors from Stanford University (1988), a Medical Doctorate from the University of California (1993), and completed her psychiatry residency at Stanford (1997).[5][6]

Career

Jurvetson works as a private practice physician in Los Altos, California.[7]

Philanthropy

Jurvetson has been active in supporting causes both domestically and internationally, primarily related to the environment and education.

Domestic causes

Jurvetson served on the board of directors of Peninsula Open Space Trust from 2003 to 2006 and was a founding donor to Wildlife Conservation Network (2002 to present).[8] After touring deforestation on the slopes of Mauna Kea in 2016, she sponsored the planting of 1,000 indigenous trees through the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative.[9]

Jurvetson previously served on the school board of The Nueva School, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area and was previously a kindergarten through 8th grade school. She co-chaired the school's $50 million capital campaign, which resulted in the construction of the San Mateo campus and the addition of a high school to Nueva (2011–2018).[10]

She has been a trustee on several other non-profit boards, including the San Francisco Ballet (2000-2003).[11] She was named by Gentry Magazine as one of the top 50 philanthropists in the San Francisco Bay Area (2013, 2014) and by Silicon Valley Social Venture with the SV2 Social Impact Award (2014) and as part of the SV2 Visionary Leadership Circle (2018).[12][13][14]

As of 2019, Jurvetson is a supporter of the San Francisco Art Museum, a contributor to the Obama Foundation, and she serves on the Advisory Board of Stanford Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, which focuses on "the way we use private resources for public benefit." [15][16]

International causes

Jurvetson is a supporter of the Jane Goodall Institute, Global Heritage Fund, Keep Girls in School Project, and One Acre Fund, which is dedicated to serving smallholder farmers in Africa.[17][18]

Political activism

Jurvetson has acted as a neighborhood organizer and a fundraiser for multiple Democratic candidates over the past thirty years.[19] She initially served as a precinct captain for her local Congresswoman in 1988 and also was an early donor and door-to-door canvasser for presidential candidates Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. After the election of Donald Trump in 2016, her donations to Democratic candidates increased to $6.9 million in advance of the 2018 midterms, making her the third highest female political donor in the US.[19]

The candidates whom she supported include Lauren Underwood, the youngest African-American woman to serve in Congress,[20] and Sharice Davids, a former mixed martial arts fighter who became the first openly LGBT Native American to serve in Congress.[21]

Controversy arose with her large donation of $5.4m to Women Vote!, the political action committee run by EMILY's List. Her donation was in the form of Baidu shares, a Chinese internet company that's traded on the U.S. stock exchange and was unusual outside of Silicon Valley since it was in the form of stock shares. The controversy arose because only American citizens can donate to U.S. elections.[22] An EMILY's List spokesperson said, "We cleared the donation through our lawyers.”[23] In November 2018, Jurvetson was named by Money Makers as one of five "surprising million dollar donors" to the US midterm elections.[23]

Jurvetson currently serves on the Board of Directors of EMILY's List, which is based in Washington, D.C. and is the nation's largest organization for women in politics.[24]

She has remained an active political donor in the 2019-2020 cycle, supporting the Democratic National Committee and several congressional candidates.[25][26] She donated $14.6 million to Persist PAC, which supported Elizabeth Warren's campaign.[27]

She also donated $1 million to Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams[28] in Georgia, which filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court to address voter suppression.[29][30][31]

Personal life

Jurvetson was married in 1990 to Silicon Valley venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, an early-stage investor in companies including SpaceX and Tesla.[32][33] They were married for 25 years and have two children. They separated in 2015[34] and she filed for divorce in 2016.[35] In 2017, to honor her father's 50-year career as a medical school professor, Jurvetson helped fund the construction of the new Stanford Medical Center and endowed a professorship in her parents’ names.[4][36]

References
  1. "Meet Karla Jurvetson, the Bay Area megadonor who helped make 2018 the 'year of the woman'". November 25, 2018.
  2. Jones, Natalie (2 November 2018). "Midterm big spenders: the top 20 political donors this election". The Guardian.
  3. "Dr. Karla Jurvetson". Sharecare. ShareCare. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. Bach, Becky. "Seven Stanford Medicine faculty members appointed to endowed professorships". Stanford Medicine. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  5. Jurvetson, Karla (2014). "Characteristics of Medical Students and Residents Who Select Psychiatry". Academic Psychiatry. 19 (3): 125–131. doi:10.1007/BF03341422. PMID 24442583.
  6. Sussman, Diane. "Illuminating the doubting disease". Palo Alto Online. Palo Alto Online. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  7. Jurvetson, Karla. "Dr. Karla Jurvetson, MD". AmWell. AmWell. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  8. Garrod, Jan. "2016 Peninsula Open Space Trust Annual Report". Issuu. Peninsula Open Space Trust. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  9. "One Family's Visit to Hawaii Island Grows with the Planting of a 1000-Legacy-Tree Forest". Green Magazine. Green Magazine. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  10. Rosenberg, Diane. "The Nueva School: Letter from Head of School". The Nueva School. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  11. Ross, Janice (2007-11-12). San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five. Google Books Preview. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9780811856980. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  12. Badger, Melissa. "The Gentry 50". Gentry Magazine. Brenda Beck. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  13. Du, Justina (2018-03-06). "2018 Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Social Impact Award Nominations". Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. SV2. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  14. Du, Justina. "Visionary Leadership Circle". Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. SV2. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  15. "Stanford Pacs Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society". Stanford University. Stanford University. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  16. Bernholz, Lucy. "Philanthropy and Digital Civil Society: Blueprint 2019". Stanford PACS. Stanford University. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  17. Shawn, Sweeney. "The Power of Commitment: Jane Goodall Institute 2014 Annual Report" (PDF). Jane Goodall. Jane Goodall Institute. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  18. "One Acre Fund Annual Report" (PDF). One Acre Fund. One Acre Fund. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  19. Tolan, Casey (November 25, 2019). "Meet Karla Jurvetson, the Bay Area megadonor who helped make 2018 the 'year of the woman'". San Jose Mercury News. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  20. O'Connell, Patrick M. "Democrat Lauren Underwood today becomes the youngest black woman ever in Congress as new class sworn in". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  21. Lowry, Bryan; Bergen, Katy (November 6, 2018). "Sharice Davids makes history: Kansas' 1st gay rep, 1st Native American woman in Congress". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  22. Levine, Marianne (June 21, 2018). "National Restaurant Association lawyer warns of possible lawsuit (scroll down to "Democratic Super PAC Hits Jackpot with Chinese Company Stock)". Politico.
  23. Kramer, Melanie (6 November 2018). "5 Surprising Million-Dollar Donors to the US Midterms". Money Makers.
  24. "Emily's List Board of Directors". Emily's List. Emily's List. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  25. Lukas, Mikelionis. "Republicans double Democrats in fundraising, majority of donations from small donors". Fox News. Fox News. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  26. Severns, Maggie. "Republicans outraise Democrats in April". Politico. Politico. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  27. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/488820-federal-election-filings-reveal-chief-backer-of-pro-warren-super-pac
  28. "About Stacey Abrams". Fair Fight Action.
  29. "Georgia Governor Election Results". New York Times. January 28, 2019.
  30. Derysh, Igor (August 30, 2019). "Probe of missing Georgia votes finds "extreme" irregularities in black districts". Salon.
  31. Cobb, Jelani (August 12, 2019). "Stacey Abrams's Fight for a Fair Vote". The New Yorker.
  32. Bronson, Po (1999-06-20). "Surfing On the Slippery Skin Of a Bubble". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  33. Crunchbase. "Space X Tesla Board". Crunchbase.
  34. Levitsky, Allison (27 May 2018). "Recall Persky campaign raises more than $1 million - Palo Alto Daily Post". Palo Alto Daily Post.
  35. "Karla Jurvetson Vs Stephen Jurvetson (Divorce Record)". UniCourt. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  36. "Stanford University Medical Center Renewal Project". Stanford Medicine. Stanford Medicine. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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