San Jose Mercury News (CA)
September 25, 2002
Section: Local
Edition: Morning Final
Page: 2B
Memo:Giving

NETWORKS TO GIVE BOOST TO CONSERVATION GROUPS

JOHN BOUDREAU column

Charles Knowles is quintessential Silicon Valley. He sold his company eight years ago. Then he proceeded to start up another start-up.

The end game, though, isn't to make another mint. His goal now is to help wildlife and humanity in some of the world's poorest regions.
His new venture is the Wildlife Conservation Network (www.wildnet.org). His co-founder is Akiko Yamazaki, wife of Yahoo founder Jerry Yang. The network will help ''conservation entrepreneurs'' by providing technical know-how, business acumen and volunteers to help write grants, as well as a link with donors. The organization is backed by primatologist Jane Goodall.

''We don't want to supply lifetime support to these organizations,'' Knowles said. ''We make a three- to five-year commitment. At the end, either their work is complete or we help them transition to become their own independent organization or partner with a larger organization.''

Knowles, 43, sold his business, Rubicon Technology, a Mountain View software company, and ''retired'' about eight years ago. But he soon left retirement to assist the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund. In 2000, the Los Altos philanthropist helped launch the Snow Leopard Conservancy.

His new organization will provide help to those working to protect an array of wildlife, from cheetahs to elephants. Its mission is to focus on independent conservationists who engage local people to ''resolve the conflicts between people and wildlife.''

For instance, villagers in Namibia hunt cheetahs because they kill livestock. Rather than giving villagers ''the gospel'' on saving cheetahs, conservationists provide shepherd dogs to livestock.

''It makes complete economic sense to them,'' Knowles says. ''We give them the puppies and they don't have to hunt.''

Knowles, who has given about $1 million of his own money to conservation causes, figures he has been able to guide another $4 million to wildlife groups through his valley network.

''In the valley there is the belief that the individual can change the world,'' he says.

His organization is sponsoring a Wildlife Conservation Expo at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Oct. 26. Experts will be on hand, along with a cheetah and snow leopards. For information, phone (408) 354-4035.

United Way kick-off: United Way Silicon Valley launched its annual campaign last week with a goal to pull in $15 million.

The agency raised about $14 million during its 2001 fundraising campaign -- $4 million less than the previous year. The result: a 40 percent cut this year in its allocations to 101 local charities. United Way relies almost exclusively on its workplace campaigns at 500 local companies, where employees designate portions of paychecks to the non-profit agency.

''We picked a conservative goal because we couldn't forecast what the economy was going to do,'' says United Way Silicon Valley chief executive Mark Walker. ''It's absolutely doable.''

Award finalists: The Peninsula Community Foundation has announced five finalists for the second Thomas W. Ford Award.

Created in 1999 to honor the late philanthropist Thomas W. Ford, the award carries a $50,000 cash grant to the local charitable cause of the winner's choice. Grants of $10,000 each will be designated to the non-profit of choice for finalists. The winner will be announced Oct. 24.

The finalists are: Bud Colligan, information technology pioneer and co-founder and chairman of Silicon Valley Community Ventures; Mary Davey, longtime champion of environmental causes; Leonard Ely, Palo Alto philanthropist; former state Sen. Becky Morgan and husband Jim Morgan, Applied Materials chairman and chief executive; Hans Wolf, former vice chairman and chief administrative officer of Syntex.

Copyright (c) 2002 San Jose Mercury News