Techno-Millionaires Share The Wealth -- Education, Environment, Social Causes Are Favored By Newest Philanthropists

A little over 100 years ago, a millionaire named C.D. Stimson arrived in Seattle with plans to harvest Washington's timberlands.

He made a pile of money. More significant, Stimson, his family and friends put a huge stamp on the city. They built the Olympic Hotel, 5th Avenue Theatre and other landmarks; developed parks and boulevards; and launched what became known as the Seattle Symphony and the Children's Hospital & Medical Center. They brought culture to the timber town.

By today's standards, however, the Stimson crowd was small fry compared with the high-tech people who today represent the region's first resident super-rich - a group who, like financial pixies in the fantasy of fund-raisers, have the capacity to sprinkle money and make problems go away.

There is no doubt that high-tech people already influence civic life. The big checkbook has opened to save the Seahawks and Mariners, boost Children's Hospital, promote the Commons park plan, propose redevelopment of Renton's shoreline, build waterfront "cyber mansions," and keep construction crews busy at the University of Washington. Much of that came from the top tier of high-tech wealth - Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and McCaw Cellular Communications founder Craig McCaw, all billionaires.

But now, a lower tier of technology millionaires are stepping up their involvement in civic and community affairs, partly in response to encouragement from their former bosses. Some are just beginning to contribute, having gone through a common ritual of retirement - a period of what might be called fierce relaxation and meditation on what's next in life.

Microsoft's alumni dominate this brainy and educated group. Unlike the millionaires of the Stimson era, they come from diverse backgrounds and won't be bound by traditions of family or class. They appear to show particular interest in education, the environment and social causes. As newcomers, they fell in love with the Northwest and now want to focus their giving here, many of them say. Once brash promoters of their products, they show a similar enthusiasm for their civic intentions, promising new approaches to old problems.

It's impossible to give a full portrait of what this group is doing because no one formally tracks their activities. Many are unknowns, such as former programmers. Some shun publicity about their giving. (Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer - Seattle's fourth billionaire - makes no headlines.) At least a few are famously rich - but famously tight as well.

One of the more elusive of the known givers is Chris Larson, a Microsoft employee who lives in Stimson's old mansion. Because he's not a Microsoft officer, he never appears in corporate reports and declines to give interviews. Known for giving to Lakeside School and Treehouse, a foundation that helps children, Larson surfaced as one of the new Mariner owners.

Yet, it's clear that those who might be called the merely millionaires are a gathering force:

-- The year-old Microsoft AlumNet, representing 450 former employees, recently formed a civic-affairs committee to assist people in helping civic or charitable causes.

Tony Audino, an AlumnNet founder and a former Microsoft marketing director, says members of his group want to help and now have the time. "We have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference," says Audino.

-- Paul Brainerd, founder of the Aldus software company, has been quietly recruiting people from technology to get involved in philanthropy and in civic affairs. Brainerd, who sold the company a few years ago, has met with some 70 people and is encouraged by the response. Brainerd describes this group as "a new breed of social entrepreneurs" who'll look at community problems in new ways and push for innovations. They won't settle for good intentions alone, he says. "They want a focused vision and a defined outcome."

Brainerd is active in several organizations, including increasing giving by members of the Washington Software Association. This year, his Brainerd Foundation will give $1.4 million to various environmental causes.

-- Former Microsoft Vice President Scott Oki, already an active philanthropist, last year gave a talk at Microsoft on how to join community and charitable boards. A modest turnout was expected but, instead, 150 showed up. "We were overwhelmed by the positive response," said Mary Pembroke, the company's senior manager in Corporate Contributions and Community Programs.

As technology millionaires step up their civic work, Microsoft has stepped up its own giving and has encouraged employee-community service. The company matches donations by employees up to a limit of $12,000. The company runs a program to alert employees to civic groups needing help. It doesn't monitor outside activities but says hundreds of its employees serve on civic and charitable boards.

Given the phenomenal financial and business success of the new wealthy, they seem as fascinated as others about the impact they expect to have. "It's huge," says Ida Cole, a former Microsoft executive who led a campaign to save the Paramount Theatre. "The high-tech people will provide high-tech solutions to traditional problems."

Certainly one of the strongest themes of their giving is the environment. The coming years should bring a windfall to eagles and salmon - or at least the eco-groups purporting to help them. Reversing the goals of the timber barons, the techno-millionaires want to bring trees to the area.

Equally significant, these young millionaires do not see themselves as walking checkbooks. Having come from innovative organizations, they see themselves as bringing a can-do attitude to nonprofit organizations. Theirs is not just new blood, it's highly oxygenated blood.

Having conquered the technology world, they tend to bring phenomenal work habits, a network of people linked by electronic mail, business and organizational savvy, and a belief that they can solve problems that frustrated others. "What gets these guys is making something sing that hasn't sung before," says Cole.

It's not enough that an organization has good intentions. What's their strategic plan? How do they measure results?

Although this group, as a whole, cares little for partisan politics, some are making a mark on public affairs.

Tina Podlodowski, a former Microsoft general manager, represents the first Microsoft alumnus to run for public office. The Seattle city councilwoman not only donates to a variety of causes but is using her government position to bring technology's benefits to all. "My goal is to make the city of Seattle one of the most computer-literate cities in the United States," says the chairwoman of the council's new technology and telecommunications committee.

Another Microsoft alumnus joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. Doug Klunder, a retired programmer, now does lobbying and seminars on Internet civil liberties and other topics. With Klunder's help, the Seattle ACLU has become a national leader in lobbying and educating people on civil liberties in cyberspace, an important new field.

Bellevue Community College (BCC) acquired a dynamic staff member almost by accident.

Two years ago, Neil Evans quit his Microsoft position - chief information officer - and went through a period of goofing off. He went to Hawaii, rode his mountain bike, and hiked through mountains.

He eventually acted on BCC President Jean Floten's invitation to "come see me when you retire." He did and stayed.

Evans donated money and helped lead a technological transformation of the college's computer system. Now it's a world of e-mail, Internet and multimedia education, a $5 million National Science Foundation grant, and a new technology degree program. He now works in a paid position as the college's director of the new Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies.

"Neil gave new meaning to the term Type A," says Floten. "He is super organized. He is able to handle huge volumes of work without flinching. He enjoys the creative process of bringing people together. He does things on time and on budget."

You can even find a techie at one of the region's oldest civic groups, the Municipal League of King County.

At 28, Jay Arnold still works at Microsoft as a software test manager, but he finds time to donate to the league, one of C.D. Stimson's interests. Arnold also chairs the Capital Finance Review Board, a civic group formed by the league and others to analyze bond proposals and other measures.

No one knows how many millionaires were created by Aldus, Microsoft, McCaw Cellular Communications and other companies. Taking Microsoft alone, some estimate that about 3,000 millionaires were created by stock options.

It's a huge group whose civic potential is breathtaking.

Seattle, over the next few decades, is going to receive more donated dollars than it has seen in its total history, says Bob Ratliffe, a former McCaw executive who is now with Eagle River, a company owned by Craig McCaw. Ratliffe has been active in the Commons proposal, Seattle University, the Seattle Children's Theatre and other civic groups. His latest project is raising money for a gym for St. Joseph's School in Seattle.

The group seems eager to disprove any notions that they have been insufficiently generous.

"The misperception is that people in high tech don't care about giving back to the community. The opposite is true," says Norma Crampton, who formerly worked in Microsoft's corporate-communications department.

"It takes a fair bit of time to learn about giving, how to give, and what organizations are worthy of your money," says Jabe Blumenthal, a former Microsoft manager who teaches at Lakeside School and gives to social and environmental causes.

Phil Welt seems typical.

Welt quit Microsoft two months ago, having served in a variety of management jobs, including general manager of Latin-American operations. Welt, who holds an MBA from Stanford, has just begun a methodical study of where he might volunteer. Since leaving Microsoft, Welt has visited the Alliance for Education and organizations that help immigrants. With his talents in running organizations, he's a volunteer that any group would want.

Having spent years working 80-hour weeks, only now does he have time to help others. He's planning to volunteer 20 hours a week.

"My goal is to give back to the community because I've gotten a lot from what society has to offer," he says. "I see it as a way to give back, and to give some meaning to my life."