Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Founder and Chairman
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is the Founder and Chairman of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), a venture philanthropy fund that leverages the financial, intellectual, and human capital of its partners to make a meaningful, measurable impact in the Silicon Valley nonprofit community. She has created and teaches Stanford Business School’s first course on Strategic Philanthropy and Stanford University’s first course on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. She is also co-founder and an advisor of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
Laura’s faculty appointments include Lecturer in Business Strategy and Associate of the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford Graduate School of Business; Lecturer in Public Policy and Haas Center for Public Service Visiting Scholar at Stanford University; and Lecturer in the Stanford University School of Education. Laura serves as Director of the Arrillaga Foundation, which focuses on education and community development in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a contributing author the forthcoming book Local Mission, Global Vision – Community Foundations in the 21st Century. She is currently writing two books: Transformational Philanthropy – an overview of new generation philanthropy and an individual donor toolkit; and Giving Your Way to Happiness – an inspirational and empowerment book that democratizes philanthropy for individuals.
Laura is a former Public Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution. She serves as a board member of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Stanford University School of Education, SIEPR (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Sand Hill Foundation, the Hoover Institution, the Stanford Athletic Board, the Cantor Museum and Women’s Health at Stanford Medical Center. She is a former trustee of Community Foundation Silicon Valley, Castilleja School, Menlo School, Eastside Preparatory School, the San Francisco Art Institute, the Parsa Foundation and the Children’s Health Council. Laura created and co-chaired the first International Venture Philanthropy Summit in Autumn 2004 and co-created and co-chaired the first annual Conference on Entrepreneurship in Philanthropy, hosted by Stanford Graduate School of Business, in Autumn 1998.
A native of Palo Alto, California, Laura is a graduate of Castilleja School. She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, an MA in Education from Stanford University School of Education, and a BA and MA in Art History from Stanford University. Laura was the recipient of the 2001 Jacqueline Kennedy Award for Women in Leadership, and in April 2005, she was selected to become a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. She was also awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the Points of Light Foundation in June 2005. Laura lives with her husband, technology entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, near Stanford University, and together they enjoy literature, art, writing, yoga, athletics, and laughing as much as possible.