Silicon Valley’s Richest Woman Hosts a Day of Innovation. Just Don’t Say Trump.
The New York Times
As the country’s liberal bubbles mourn the election’s outcome, Laurene Powell Jobs highlighted entrepreneurs’ good work with one rule: “Cheer loudly!”
Some billionaires are joining the Trump administration. Others are contemplating leaving the country.
Laurene Powell Jobs, who is one of the richest people in the world and who backed her close friend, Kamala Harris, in the presidential race, is trying to project optimism.
Two weeks after the election, Ms. Powell Jobs gave a rare peek into her philanthropy work at an event called Demo Day, where 10 people whose ideas she has supported financially presented their work in Ted Talk-like speeches.
The objective is to connect people who she believes have promising ideas with people who have money and influence. There is a hint of the “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list, but Ms. Powell Jobs promoted social justice causes and scientific research rather than jewelry or kitchen appliances.
Her chosen speakers in downtown San Francisco this year shared their ideas about climate change, women’s health, immigration, the creation of prosthetics and education in Africa to a theater full of venture capitalists, philanthropists and technology executives.
What they did not do was mention the name Donald J. Trump. Granted, the event was planned months before the election, but the results, which many people in the country’s most liberal bastions consider disastrous, might have been expected to come up. They did not.
