George kaiser

I suppose I arrived at my charitable commitment largely through guilt. I recognized early on, that my good fortune was not due to superior personal character or initiative so much as it was to dumb luck. I was blessed to be born in an advanced society with caring parents. So, I had the advantage of both genetics (winning the “ovarian lottery”) and upbringing. As I looked around at those who did not have these advantages, it became clear to me that I had a moral obligation to direct my resources to help repair that inequity.

America’s “social contract” is equal opportunity. It is the most fundamental principle in our founding documents and it is what originally distinguished us from the old Europe. Yet, we have failed in achieving that seminal goal; in fact, we have lost ground in recent years. Another distinctly American principle is a shared partnership between the public and private sectors to foster the public good. So, if the democratically-directed public sector is shirking, to some degree, its responsibility to level the playing field, more of that role must shift to the private sector.

As I addressed my charitable purposes, all of those conclusions seemed pretty clear: I was only peripherally responsible for my own good fortune; I was morally bound to help those left behind by the accident of birth; America’s root principle was equal opportunity but we were far from achieving it. What was left was to identify the charitable interventions most likely to advance that purpose.

BRENDAN COFFEY Bloomberg News
When Tulsa energy billionaire George Kaiser opened the Northeast Gateway liquid natural gas terminal in 2008, the floating depot's first delivery was shipped on the Excellence, a 909-foot supertanker that holds 138,000 cubic meters of LNG - enough gas to meet more than 4 percent of daily U.S. demand.

The Excellence is owned by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, a charitable organization that also owned a 36 percent stake in Solyndra LLC, the Fremont, Calif.-based solar system maker that went bankrupt in 2011 after receiving a $535 million U.S. Energy Department loan.

The nonprofit organization paid $110 million for the tanker in 2003. It later gave control of the vessel to Woodlands, Texas-based Excelerate Energy LP, a for-profit gas delivery company Kaiser owns with publicly traded German electric utility RWE AG, according to RWE's 2012 annual report.

“I had the advantage of both genetics (winning the ‘ovarian lottery’) and upbringing. As I looked around at those who did not have these advantages, it became clear to me that I had a moral obligation to direct my resources to help repair that inequity.”

Now that I have told you far more than you wanted to know about how I arrived at my charitable commitment and direction, it is time to make the pledge: I am entranced by Warren’s and Bill’s visionary appeal to those who have accumulated unconscionable resources, to dedicate at least half of them back to purposes more useful than dynastic perpetuation. My family is very well provided for and they join me in my commitment to devote virtually all of my financial resources to the same general charitable purposes I have pursued in life, better informed in specifics by our experience and the experience of others. If enough acolytes follow Bill’s and Melinda’s and Warren’s example, then maybe we will more closely approach the ideal of equal opportunity throughout the United States and the world.

George B. Kaiser

COMMUNITY HEALTH

In a state with some of the country’s worst health outcomes, GKFF® has sought best practices to combat Tulsa’s significant health challenges. The Foundation invests in evidence-based practices and interventions dedicated to serving low-income populations.

In 2017, Oklahoma ranked 45th in physicians per capita.

In December 2017, it was reported that 22.9% of children in Oklahoma live in poverty.

PURPOSE

Eliminating health disparities and improving health care access to uninsured, underserved populations is critical to ensuring a strong quality of life among all socioeconomic groups. The Foundation believes that a healthy workforce, access to quality health care at a reasonable cost and increased numbers of insured individuals are important for a city to thrive.

PROJECTS

Increasing access to quality health care for low-income families and underserved communities is at the core of GKFF’s community health efforts. The Foundation has invested in multiple data-driven interventions for adults and children as well as the community at large.

WOMEN IN RECOVERY
Women in Recovery (WIR) is an evidence-based alternative to incarceration program for women facing significant prison sentences in Tulsa County. The program, operated by Family and Children’s Services, includes more than a year of gender-specific, trauma-informed mental health and substance abuse treatment and comprehensive employment and family reunification services. WIR provides participants an opportunity to successfully return to their families and communities. Since 2009, WIR has helped nearly 700 women and more than 1,400 children.

The Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative has rebranded as the Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative (OKBEI) to mark its five-year journey and expanded mission of supporting healthy births and reducing maternal health disparities statewide. Learn more at ow.ly/swFB50TJZmG.

Oil Tycoon’s Well-Timed IPO Boosts

George Kaiser, whose parents fled N**i Germany for the Oklahoma oil patch, was already a billionaire before Russia invaded Ukraine and threw the global energy market into turmoil.

Still, a well-timed initial public offering of his Excelerate Energy Inc. has added $1.4 billion to his fortune and boosted his net worth to $9.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares of The Woodlands, Texas-based Excelerate were trading at $27.21 at 12:04 p.m. in New York, up 13% from their offering price and valuing the liquefied natural gas company at $2.9 billion.

“I had the advantage of both genetics (winning the ‘ovarian lottery’) and upbringing. As I looked around at those who did not have these advantages, it became clear to me that I had a moral obligation to direct my resources to help repair that inequity.”

those initiatives which attempt to reverse the generational cycle of poverty, especially for very young children and their families: prenatal and family healthcare; early learning and development for at-risk kids, birth to three; teen pregnancy prevention; parenting skill development; job and income assistance for families with young children; a robust program to provide alternatives to incarceration for mothers who have committed non-violent crimes, et cetera.

These efforts focus most heavily on the causes of poverty but we also dedicate resources to the symptoms, especially in these difficult times and in our relatively poor part of the country—food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and civic projects that promote inclusiveness and vibrancy. We generate a mix of projects, some of which are leading edge and more that import best practices from the greater creativity and experience of others. We attempt to leverage other resources, public and private, by our example. We try not to let a budget drive our expenditures but rather pursue those efforts through which we can make a true difference at an appropriate cost, whether less than or more than our targeted allocation. We remain lean in our central organization and partner with the leading practitioners in our fields of endeavor. We tend to direct our purposes and carefully monitor targeted results on a contemporaneous basis rather than scattering gifts and trusting to retrospective general narratives of success from the beneficiaries. All in all, it is an intoxicating and yet frustrating journey, led by an extraordinarily committed and talented cadre of leaders.

Now that I have told you far more than you wanted to know about how I arrived at my charitable commitment and direction, it is time to make the pledge: I am entranced by Warren’s and Bill’s visionary appeal to those who have accumulated unconscionable resources, to dedicate at least half of them back to purposes more useful than dynastic perpetuation. My family is very well provided for and they join me in my commitment to devote virtually all of my financial resources to the same general charitable purposes I have pursued in life, better informed in specifics by our experience and the experience of others. If enough acolytes follow Bill’s and Melinda’s and Warren’s example, then maybe we will more closely approach the ideal of equal opportunity throughout the United States and the world.

George B. Kaiser

The deadline to enter the Tulsa Idea Challenge is almost here. Apply now to collaborate, ideate and create with fellow Tulsans as you compete for a total prize pool of $50,000. Applications close April 4:

At the core of the Foundation is a drive to create an environment where every family, no matter their background, has an opportunity to succeed.

George kaiser family foundation uses evidence-­based practices to tackle the most pressing problems in our community, often through importing proven national programs. We recognize that the challenges we deal with are complex and require constant review and evaluation.

George kaiser family foundation works by leveraging a wide array of resources, both public and private, to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young children in Tulsa.

We seek to promote the values and practices of diversity, equity and inclusion in our workforce, our community and in our initiatives.

Send a dm if you want helps or donate to our foundation.

THANK YOU

Place-Based Impact in Practice: 36 hours in Tulsa with NationSwell and George Kaiser Family Foundation

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Place-Based Impact in Practice: 36 hours in Tulsa with NationSwell and George Kaiser Family Foundation



Posted on October 27, 2023by NationSwell Team

On the evening of October 18th, black clouds of starlings wheeled overhead as the NationSwell team made its way to meet a group of partners and leaders in downtown Tulsa. The group had gathered as part of our Place-Based Impact Collaborative for an immersive, 1.5-day experience designed to explore how community-centered investment and strategic partnerships are working in concert to give new strength to Tulsa.

The insights and best practices we gathered from GKFF’s approach — and from the experts in attendance — were many, and can better enable communities nationwide to thrive. Although it’s impossible to accurately capture and convey the profound experience of being on the ground in Tulsa, our hope is that this piece can shed some light on what it was like to come together and learn with an incredible group of leaders and inspire you as you strengthen your own community-centered, place-based work