Our Philanthropic Pledge

We pledge we will gift to non-profit causes more than 90 percent of our assets during our lifetime or as planned gifts.

We deeply appreciate the good fortune that allows us to make this commitment. Our support of various not for profit organizations has given us enormous satisfaction particularly where we have been personally involved with the boards or committees of those institutions.

We would not be in this position if not for the extraordinary people that made AES a success. We deeply appreciate their commitment to expanding access to electricity around the world and the personal values they demonstrate. Giving to causes that will make the world a better place socially and environmentally is one of the ways we can express our thanks to them.

We have created a family foundation, with our four children and their spouses amongst our trustees, so that as a family we can address the issues that we feel are the most compelling. Our appreciation to each of our family members is unbounded as they have contributed their insights and ideas that have made our Foundation grants more effective. Our children and grandchildren have brought us joy beyond our imagining.

We encourage others to go down a philanthropic path of their choosing with the understanding that this road is full of opportunities and challenges. It is as hard to make good grants as it is to make good investments and it needs to be done with dedication. For this we thank our extraordinary staff, and our non-family trustees, who work diligently to help us realize our mission to assist in creating a world where nature can flourish and people can thrive. When done right, there is nothing more satisfying than grant-making—seeing positive results and learning from mistakes.

Finally, we thank Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates for their leadership in expanding the amount of philanthropy in the world.