Priscilla Chan, Co-founder, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

By
herstorywomen

July 24, 2019

Priscilla Chan is the Co-founder of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic foundation she founded with her husband, Mark Zuckerberg in December 2015.

The foundation focuses on using technology to prevent and eradicate disease, improve learning experiences for children, and reform the criminal justice system. It also aims to build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. She is a graduate of Biology with Spanish Citation (BA) from Harvard University, and she earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. As a paediatrician and former teacher, Chan’s work with patients and students informed her love for personalised learning, finding new paths in managing and curing disease, as well as expanding opportunities for more people. She founded The Primary School which focuses on integrating education, healthcare, and family support services to improve outcomes for underserved children. In 2015, Chan and her husband donated $75 million to the San Francisco General Hospital’s Foundation and in November 2018, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donated $214 million worth of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

A woman creating amazing opportunities for people and the 53rd world’s most powerful woman in 2018, according to Forbes, Priscilla Chan is our Woman of the Week.