A Vision for Philanthropic Funding of a 21st-Century Renaissance
Meet Tom Kalil, sci-tech adviser to two presidents and some billionaires
It’s hard to talk about science-based policy and societal progress even as President Trump orders dams opened in California that have no significant connection to Los Angeles’s capacity to fight wildfires and continues to support a nominee for Heatlh and Human Services secretary who has yet to acknowledge the unscientific nature of his past stances on vaccine dangers and disease origins. (This is all just for starters.)
But at the same time, progress in the 21st century, just like that in the 20th, will be shaped more by scientific breakthroughs and resulting technological, agricultural, medical and other innovations than by any single president - even this one.
Much of the last century’s scientific progress was built on direct or indirect government investment. But privately supported or facilitated science is increasingly in the mix, just as it was more than 400 years ago.
The European era now called the Renaissance was substantially driven by rich and powerful people supporting creators of all kinds - from the arts through the sciences.
Today, live at 3 p.m. Eastern, join me to explore an effort to boost the role and impact of philanthropy in advancing science with sustainable outcomes in mind. You’ll meet Tom Kalil, who advised two presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, on science and technology and now runs an advisory called Renaissance Philanthropy. Below you can read the opening section of the organization’s “thesis” and click a link for the rest.
Join us and post questions on LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter (@revkin) and YouTube.
Here are the organization’s “thesis” and some specific projects:
We live in an age of stunning scientific and technological advances, from the wealth of knowledge accessible on the Internet to the more than doubling of global life expectancy from 32 years in 1900 to over 72 years today. These advancements were set into motion over 400 years ago during the Renaissance, a period of profound scientific, cultural, artistic, and intellectual flourishing.
The Renaissance was the result of a confluence of developments: the printing press accelerated the diffusion and exchange of knowledge, Renaissance thinkers questioned existing beliefs and advocated for the use of the scientific method, and tools such as the microscope and astrolabe deepened our understanding of and ability to navigate the world.
Wealthy families played an important role in fostering this Renaissance by both supporting artists, writers, and scholars such as Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci, and encouraging them to be ambitious and forward-thinking. We believe today’s philanthropists could play a similar role in fostering a 21st-century renaissance….
Mission/vision of Renaissance Philanthropy
Examples of initiatives
Renaissance “playbooks”
The role of agenda-setting in creating positive, self-fulfilling prophecies
Climate/sustainability ideas
Role of AI/automation in accelerating the pace of science and innovation for sustainability
Market-shaping – initiatives like Frontier Climate
Research for climate emergencies
Late in 2020, shortly after Joe Biden was elected, I ran a relevant Sustain What conversation on what science advice should look like after Trump’s tumultuous first term:
My guests were:
Neal F. Lane, Baker Institute at Rice University, Science Advisor to President Bill Clinton
Naomi Oreskes, Harvard science historian, author of Why Trust Science?
Rod Schoonover, former director of environment and global health analysis National Intelligence Council, founder of Ecological Futures Group
Romany M. Webb, senior fellow, Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law