The following was presented as part of a session at Philanthropy Roundtable’s Annual Meeting in October 2022.
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, business leader and philanthropist Kenneth C. Griffin received Philanthropy Roundtable’s prestigious 2022 Simon-DeVos Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. The Prize presentation at the Roundtable’s Annual Meeting included Peter Simon from the William E. Simon Foundation and Maria DeVos from the DeVos Family Foundation, sponsors of the annual Prize, along with Philanthropy Roundtable President and CEO Elise Westhoff and Hannah Shue, a third-generation member of the DeVos family.
After a video presentation that highlighted the impact of Griffin’s generosity, Peter Simon and Maria DeVos awarded him the Prize, along with a $200,000 award, payable to the charity of Griffin’s choice.
“Ken’s data driven, scalable approach to charitable giving is focused on advancing the American Dream, creating strong communities, and it’s no stretch to say his efforts have, at times, saved lives,” said Simon, whose father, William E. Simon, was the inspiration for the Prize.
“Ken’s philanthropic accomplishments are extraordinary,” DeVos added. “We are grateful for Ken’s inspirational philanthropic leadership, his commitment to effective charity [and] his courage to invest in the causes he believes in.”
Following the presentation, Griffin, founder of the global alternative investment firm Citadel, sat down with Success Academy Charter Schools Founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz to discuss his approach to charitable giving – including his focus on strengthening communities and expanding opportunities for people of all backgrounds through private philanthropy.
Below is a transcript of the moderated conversation with Griffin and Moskowitz.
Eva Moskowitz
So exciting to be here. And this Prize is so deserving. You’re, as everyone has said, your philanthropic leadership, your business leadership, I would say societal leadership is really inspiring to all of us here, to Americans broadly. So, I just thought I would start by asking how do you think about philanthropic priorities? There are so many problems in the United States, so many problems in the world. How do you prioritize how you should focus your charitable giving?
Ken Griffin
So, it’s a great question, let me first just thank the Simon and the DeVos family, for their commitment to encouraging Americans to participate in our society, and to make the difference that so many people in this room have made, to make our country a better place. And I’d like to, of course, recognize the Philanthropy Roundtable for organizing this incredible event tonight, and over the course of today. And again, it’s providing the intellectual capital to help us all make better decisions to address the very questions that you just asked. And then, and then before going to that question, I would just like to say like, I’m number one in your fan club.
I’ll share a quick personal story. You may know this, you put together videos of your students being accepted to college. And one of the most powerful moments in my family was to have my young children watch the videos of your children being admitted, whether it was to Brown or to MIT, and to see just their colleagues so proud, in each other’s success and in their accomplishment. And you truly are changing the lives of children in New York. And that goes back to your question, which is, I tried to think about what causes can I support that, when watched and studied, we will push across our country? How do we have a Success Academy in every city in America? Because what you’ve demonstrated is the ability to transform the lives of children that, in many parts of the country, are written off to “they’re demographically challenged,” “they’re socio-economically challenged,” “that’s just the way it is.” And you’ve proven that’s just, that’s just malarkey. That, with the right leadership, the right teachers, the right curriculum, the right commitment from the parents and the students being held to high expectations, they can deliver. So, one of the things that we look for in all our giving is ways to have supporting models that are scalable. So, in education, I think Success Academy is a leader. On the video, they spoke about the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago. Early adopter of, at the time, simplistic machine learning technologies but to dispatch public safety officials in a way that markedly reduced crime. And as you and I both know, one of the real challenges in our inner cities, is that students that grow up in a, in a crime-engulfed area are just, they’re under constant stress, it makes it much harder to plan for a future when you have to worry so much about getting through the day. Like the idea of “I’m going to go to college and live the American Dream,” wait a second, “I just need to get across the street and live.” And in Chicago, that’s a real issue. So again, we’re thinking about scalable models. That’s a big focus on what we do in our charitable giving with my team that works with me at Citadel. And I’d like to emphasize that point. It’s a team effort, I’m really, really fortunate to be surrounded both with Cason, who leads our charitable giving, and then to be in an environment where there’s so many bright people that are expressive in their views, that are thought-provoking in what they bring to the table. That has really helped us make better decisions over time.
Eva Moskowitz
Well, we have benefited so much, Ken, from your generosity at Success and your focus. I have been taken by some of your very sort of pithy statements about sort of the problems and dilemmas that we’re in. And I just want to quote from a statement that you made around education, you said, “Our lack of investment,” I quote, “in public education, specifically has put a detour sign in the middle of the on ramp to the American Dream.” And I’m wondering if you can unpack for us why this issue is so critical to opportunity and how you see that playing out if we don’t solve the crisis?
Ken Griffin
Well, let’s be clear. We live in a world today that, as was expressed earlier, is data driven, it’s analytically focused. If you do not have a command of reading, writing, science and mathematics, you are in a very difficult position in society moving forward. And as a country, we’re graduating, roughly a quarter of the STEM graduates that, for example, China graduates, so we really have to come together as a nation to teach our children critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and then the very core fundamental math, science, reading, writing, that has been lost in much of the American school system. I mean, the amount of emphasis on issues that just will not develop minds is really heartbreaking in many of the schools in our country that have been called by wokeism. So education to me is very important. Now, the statement, the quote’s accurate, that the bottom line is America spends enough on education.
Eva Moskowitz
It’s almost a trillion dollars a year for K-12, a little shy of.
Ken Griffin
And the amount that gets lost in bureaucracy, administration, union work rules, the willingness to tolerate poor performing teachers in the classroom, not holding students accountable and responsible, because kids will rise to the occasion. We spend enough as a country, but we’re not getting the value for our dollar.
Eva Moskowitz
And are you discouraged? You don’t seem so. But one could be discouraged. I mean, you quoted the, I think it’s China’s producing five times the number of engineers, and yet some folks believe that we can still be technologically dominant, and that somehow, we will work our way out of it. Are you optimistic that we can or …?
Ken Griffin
Some days the glass is half full. Look, you have to always keep in mind the two competing realities. Number one is in our country — you know, I said I’m number one in your fan club — we have great leaders achieving remarkable results. And what is frustrating is in this day and age of social media, where you could theoretically have access to so much insight and knowledge, we still allow so many of our government-managed functions to deliver, frankly, just a very poor quality of service. And I saw it in Chicago, I saw it firsthand. I saw the struggles of principals trying to help their students, running into the rigidity of the union work rules that would prevent classes from being offered in schools, that would prevent students from having extra time with their teachers. That was just, that would protect teachers that had lost the passion to teach. It was really sad. So, I think the key is we can’t lose hope because if we lose hope, who carries the ball forward?
Eva Moskowitz
So, I think significantly more today than just three years ago. I think it’s horrifying, how the pandemic completely turned upside down the social norms within schools, and in the relationship between faculty and administration. I think it’s horrifying. And I will tell you that, having recently moved my family from Chicago to Miami, by the grace of God, we are here. The schools here [are] so much more focused on education, so much less focused on ideology, and the ideology that was being taught to my kids was not healthy. I mean, my son’s American history started with the Salem Witch Trial. And sort of, you know, slavery is the big climax and, and there’s no moment where we actually chartered out for the world the concept of freedom, and individual rights. And we saved the world in World War I and World War II. I mean, American history definitely has its dark side, but I’d like my child to be proud of this country. And I think that we’ve lost that in many of our schools across America, in this moment of almost self-hatred. And that’s, that’s going to take away the hope that we need to have to come to the table every day to fight for what’s right and what’s needed. Like, what’s the point if you’re hopeless? So the self-hatred is a really troubling phenomenon that I think is gripping much of education in America today.
Eva Moskowitz
How do you see the way out of that quagmire? What do you think the country needs to do to regain its core values footing?
Ken Griffin
So, you need to keep fighting the fight.
Eva Moskowitz
I intend to.
Ken Griffin
And I will tell you, our Founding Fathers, they were geniuses, and the federal system, I think, will actually demonstrate its power over the next 20 years. You know, I look at, I look at the vibrancy and the culture of South Florida. And it is so refreshing to be in an environment where people look forward to the future. And contrast that with a city that I called home for 30 years, which effectively devolved to anarchy. And where people would spend their time talking about the misery, the crime, the corruption and the hopelessness. And I think that, over the next 20 years, we’re going to see the power of the federal system play out. And I think frankly, that will help to push the pendulum back to a better place. When people see states like Florida, states like Texas just perform markedly better than some of the states that have really lost their way in the last few years.
Eva Moskowitz
And not to sort of over index on K-12 because you’ve been such a leader in higher education and so many other critical policy areas. It’s obviously just my favorite topic. You’ve done amazing work as the video showcased on really intervening in life-threatening immediate situations, like transporting Americans out of Wuhan and Operation Warp Speed. I’m wondering if you can give us any visibility into sort of your thinking at that moment in time where you decided to step up in this major way. How were you thinking about the state of the country [and] the state of the world when you made that decision?
Ken Griffin
With respect to the crisis in Wuhan?
Eva Moskowitz
And the COVID crisis just in general.
Ken Griffin
So one of the great strengths of my firm is the diversity of our talent, which comes down to: we are a meritocracy, we look for the best people from around the world. I would say roughly half of my senior leadership team was born outside of America. And these are truly remarkable people. And my colleagues from China were much more aware of the unfolding pandemic than my fellow American colleagues that were born here in the United States. We’re all Americans. But you know, if you’re born in China, you’re on WeChat. This is front and center. If you’re born in the United States, the CDC is going to save you. And I mean, all movies, they’re like the people that make it all happen, it’s incredible. But that gave us a bit of a front row seat to this issue, and then having a family that was in Wuhan as the borders are being sealed, and having to grapple with how do we bring this family home? It puts you right in the middle of the situation. Sometimes the problems come to you. And the problem came to me. And it was, it was an absolute pleasure to work with Secretary Pompeo; he was a phenomenal man to work with on just a triage of how do we bring, not a few hundred Americans home. It was originally going to be one flight of Americans leaving Wuhan, but to actually bringing all the Americans home from Wuhan. And he was an absolute, just phenomenal partner to work with, in solving that problem. Because China’s trying to close its borders down. We brought these people back to our country. How do we make sure they don’t bring the virus with them? Right? That was a really tangible concern at that moment. And how do we deal with some of the just very sensitive nuts and bolts international relations issues? And the Chinese were very sensitive to this, as you know, at the start of the pandemic. And I think it was one of those great moments where American business and American government worked together. And I would like to think that we, as a country, would embrace that. That was something that President Trump was really good at doing, was reaching out to the American business community for ideas or thoughts, for inspiration. They were night and day different than many of the previous or current administrations on that issue. Because a lot of American CEOs, the environment that I’m in, incredibly stimulative – you get a lot of perspectives and ideas that you can share with people who live in the bubble of Washington, D.C. And you can make a difference with those ideas.
Eva Moskowitz
Wow, that’s an incredible story and incredible feat, and the patriotism is inspiring. Imagine being one of those 800 Americans trapped there, that just is very emotional.
Ken Griffin
But it’s America at its finest. There’s a problem, and we’re going to solve it. And that’s the ethos that we need to bring back to America, which is we’re going to be realistic about our problems, and we’re going to solve them. And we’re not going to whine about them, we’re not going to complain about them, we’re not going to say they can’t be solved — we’re going to go back to the ethos of how do we get it done?
Eva Moskowitz
And what do you think it’s going to take? I mean, we had that, at one point, at many points in American history. And we seem paralyzed by very basic, whether it’s crime in Chicago or schooling. I mean, the story of the creation of the COVID vaccine seems to be one area where people work together and figured it out faster than any vaccine had ever been made before.
Ken Griffin
The COVID vaccine R&D effort is truly one of the triumphs of mankind. We all wish it was more effective like the polio vaccine. But let’s be clear, being sick is much better than being dead. And it really is that remarkable triumph of what they accomplished, both at Pfizer and at Moderna, in the early generations of this, along with other companies around the world that had other vaccine alternatives. What always bothers me is if you win the Super Bowl or you win the NBA, you’re invited to the White House and you’re celebrated for your accomplishments. Why did we never bring the scientists from Moderna to the White House and celebrate their remarkable accomplishment?
Eva Moskowitz
You’re so right. You’re so right. And it was phenomenal. I mean, that usually it takes nine to 11 years to create a vaccine.
Ken Griffin
And those were some tough conversations I had with the White House early in the pandemic, you know, the president’s like we’re going to have a vaccine by the summer. “Mr. President, that’s not for sure. In fact, we’re still waiting for the HIV vaccine.” So it was not particularly fun to be on the phone with the president of the United States and throwing a bit of cold water on the situation. We’ve got to think about alternatives as a country to live with this virus, with or without a vaccine. And thankfully, our scientific community rose to the occasion and did solve this problem. And they did it. They did it at warp speed. I mean, it’s just, it is a remarkable accomplishment. It’s the Manhattan Project of our generation.
Eva Moskowitz
And what do you attribute that ingenuity, determination, success? What would you attribute that to?
Ken Griffin
Look at your best graduates.
Eva Moskowitz
I mean, I think it’s-
Ken Griffin
I mean, look at, look at your best graduates. Look at the perseverance and the grit and the determination that they have to come up in the environment they’re in, to get through Success Academies, and to go to the best schools in our country. Or they’ve come from abroad. Many of the best scientists in America were born somewhere else. And they come here for the opportunity to be Americans.
Eva Moskowitz
And do you see this cooperation, either between business and government or sort of the coalescing around solving a problem a la Operation Warp Speed? Do you think that ethos – what would it take to apply that to crime or schooling or any other ill that we face?
Ken Griffin
So I think what really frustrates both of us is most of these problems we already know how to solve. I mean, that’s what’s so frustrating is, don’t take this the wrong way. We have your curriculum for Success Academy, we, you could definitively write out what defines a qualified teacher. We definitively know the physical infrastructure we need for students to succeed in it. And then we know the cultural norms and the socio-emotional environment, they have to be a part of, to develop and flourish. What’s so frustrating is you don’t actually have to solve an intellectual problem; we simply need to execute. Like that, I think is, if you ask like what really just gnaws at me, it’s like why can’t we find the force of will to do right, in this case, by our children and holistically by our country?
Eva Moskowitz
Now, it is enormously frustrating. And I always say, you know, education is distinct from finding the solution to COVID. Because we know what works. We know phonics teaches children to read, we know that order and civility are good for raising children. And yet, there’s a political will issue rather than a knowledge gap. What do you see, though, as the lever there, if it’s not a knowledge gap, how do we and how can people in this room, who are philanthropists, how can we go about as methodically as you have solving these issues?
Ken Griffin
I think it’s incredibly important that, and many of you in this room are going to fall in the following category: we worked hard, we keep our noses down, we stay focused on the mission, we’re not looking for fame. Like that’s not the driver. The driver is the sense of accomplishment. But I do think it’s really important that we celebrate our successes and make sure the country knows what can be done. So, for example, the work that you do with your videos that I share with my children like, this can happen. And how do we proselytize these ideas? So that people that are in the inner city go like, you know what, there is a way that my child could have an education. It happens in New York, it happens at Success. Why can’t it happen here in X Y, Zed city?
Eva Moskowitz
Well, I think you know –
Ken Griffin
We can’t be shy in celebrating our wins because it’s a way to help others embrace what may be possible. But you know, the most powerful thing that we have in our firm in making innovation happen is often just knowing that a competitor solved the problem. You have no idea how powerful it is to get a group of people to solve the problem within your four walls. They solved it. And all of a sudden, the problem that couldn’t be solved is solved 14 days later, because eight people sat in a room, worked seven days a week because they weren’t going to be beat. Nothing like seeing problems solved inspires others to solve problems too.
Eva Moskowitz
Well said. And I think part of the challenge is that, you know, there’s this pessimism about the country or about the level of inclusivity. And of course, there’s more work that can be done. But, you know, you’ve been able to see the glass is half full, and what problems can you solve? And where can we innovate? And where do these, you know, I hate to call them old-fashioned values because they seem very fashionable to me, but hard work, grit, ingenuity, creativity – how do we ensure that the country embraces those? Do you have any guidance or thoughts or advice?
Ken Griffin
You know, I really think if you want the country to embrace those values, tone at the top matters a lot. And it’s been a long time since we’ve had a clear message from the top about the importance of those values. And the American public will have a chance to vote again in two years about the tone of the top. And I hope that, in both parties, I hope that we have exceptional candidates. I hope on both sides, we have exceptional candidates, the American public has a chance to choose between two really great people to lead the country from the top, because that’s where the biggest impact comes from. I mean, if we look back at the leadership from Ronald Reagan, we need to take a step back to that moment in time if we want to achieve our dreams of securing the future for our country. He was really good that this country could be the shining light, both domestically and internationally. We need to get back to that moment in time.
Eva Moskowitz
Yeah, I think that is so important that you’re saying leadership on both parties. We want Americans to have good choices. It makes the dialogue so much richer if we have strength and leadership on both sides of the aisle.
Ken Griffin
You know that The New York Times ran this article. It was about Rahm Emanuel and me as being the odd couple. And they really didn’t know where to go with this article, because they wanted to paint this as like, the billionaire and the politician, there must be something askance, like they couldn’t help themselves, The New York Times. But he was a phenomenal mayor and phenomenal partner. You can accomplish — I mean, he and I would agree on 80 some percent of issues. By the way, that’s a remarkable percent for any two people to agree on, on any set of issues. And for both of us, K-12 education was so important because we both viewed K-12 education as the on ramp to the American Dream. That’s how you have the chance. I went to a public high school. My parents, my father was the first in his family to go to college. We all got to where we were on education. Like my grandmother grew up with no running water. She saw a man land on the moon; she grew up with no running water. And it’s hard to even imagine that life. So K-12 education was the area that, that Mayor Emanuel and I had just great passion around together. And there were a number of areas that we had great passion around together. And I think the key was, rather than sit there and squabble about the 10 or 15% you don’t agree on, put wins on the board on the 85% you do. And in Chicago, that was public safety. That was the Crime Lab, and he was incredibly supportive. He was incredibly supportive of working with the private sector and improving our Chicago public schools. We had meaningful increases in student performance under his leadership. You can find wins working with people on both sides of the aisle.
Eva Moskowitz
And we’re getting toward the end of our time, and I want to make sure you have an opportunity for any closing thoughts. But I wanted to ask you this question about your philanthropy: on the one hand, you’re so data driven and so analytical about what solutions are scalable, but what personally animates you to give?
Ken Griffin
Actually, I’m going to turn the tables around for a second. You’ve literally committed your entire life to giving. What drives that?
Eva Moskowitz
I love children. And I love the American Dream, like you. It’s such an important dream. You know there is no French dream. There’s no other country dream. There’s the American Dream, and so that dream, keeping that dream alive and making the dream a reality as much as possible for as many people as possible. But I guess, you know, I think it’s easy, you know, to not, I guess I see that you have a deep caring. And I’ve always felt that we’ve had that in common, that you are invested in American society and care about American people greatly. And so, I just, I assume it’s similar for you. But I wanted to ask you that.
Ken Griffin
I’m certain it’s similar, because I’ve lived the American Dream. And as I said, my grandmother grew up with no running water and her grandson graduates from Harvard, starts a business at the age of 20 and, 33 years later, has one of the greatest teams in the world in finance. This is not a Swiss story, it’s not a German story. It’s a story that, for most of our lifetime, could only have been written here in America. And I know the sacrifices that her and her husband made for her children to have the American Dream. And I’m grateful that, for me, you know, she was my financial aid package to Harvard. She cared that all of her grandkids had a great education. And she put all of us through college, which is a remarkable feat for, again, somebody who grew up with nothing. Her husband grew up with nothing. They built a mid-sized business in the Midwest, the local car dealer, the local gas station, and both my grandfather and her were deeply committed to their community, and deeply committed to the importance of education.
Eva Moskowitz
Well, thank you, Ken, for this conversation tonight, but more importantly, your vision and all the work you’ve done to make America even better than it is. So, thank you very, very much.
