Laurene Powell Jobs is an Emerging Potent Force

Laurene Powell Jobs is Silicon Valley royalty. She is the wife of the late Apple co-founder and visionary Steve Jobs who passed away in October 2011. For years now, she has also been mentoring people at East Palo Alto without revealing her real identity. One of the people she has touched with her philanthropy is Ms. Castro who is a beneficiary of College Track, a college prep group that she has founded. Ms. Castro only found out about her mentor’s prominent name after reading an article.

Emerging into the public eye

Laurene Powell Jobs is known to be a very private person who is rather averse to publicity. But her recent involvement in pushing for the Dream Act has also unearthed her work as an immigration reform campaigner and education philanthropist. In the first interview that Ms. Jobs agreed to since her husband died, she expressed and pledged her support for these urgent issues. She has also been pushing for nutrition and global conservation and the issue of gun control.

A potent force

According to Steve Jobs’ friend, Larry Brilliant, President of the Skoll Global Threats Fund Ms. Jobs’ life was about family and Steve and that she has been mourning for years, even before Jobs died. Now, her involvement in the world stage is just the beginning. Ms. Jobs is “emerging as a potent force.”

A Wall Street Journal profile has revealed the motivation for Ms. Jobs’ decision to “step put into the public eye.” Almost 20 years ago, she was involved in tutoring students from low-income families and found out about the financial limitations faced by illegal immigrants to the US in securing a college education.

The Chief Executive of Conservation International Peter Seligmann says that Ms. Jobs is in an “unusual position” with the capability to have a major impact and that the choices that she’d be making would be worth watching.

Jobs philanthropy

Ms. Jobs’ friend, philanthropist and Stanford lecturer Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen said that Laurene has made publicly known philanthropic investments but she has also done more than what people do not know about. Ms Jobs is not about gaining public recognition. Only 1% of what she does is known because she is about transforming and touching people’s lives.

In a New York Times interview, Ms. Jobs said that”… we want to use our knowledge and our network and our relationships to try to affect the greatest amount of good.”

The Emerson Collective

Laurene Powell Jobs has not put up a foundation in Steve Jobs’ name as some people think she should have done. She has instead doubled her commitment to an organization that she founded 10 years ago called the Emerson Collective. This organization provides investments education and makes grants available in the same area. The organization is also gradually expanding into other initiatives.

Ninth wealthiest woman in the world

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists Laurene Powell Jobs as the 9th richest woman in the world after she inherited a fortune from her husband, Steve Jobs. Her net worth is around $11.5 billion most of which is tied to the Walt Disney Company which acquired Pixar, the animations studio also co-founded by Steve Jobs. The Laurene Powell Jobs Trust has 7.3% share, the largest in the company.

Photo Credit: Laurene Powell Jobs