DHS Honors Silicon Valley Luminaries and their Philanthropic Leadership of Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates at David Packard Virtual Award Dinner 2020

Washington DC- Tuesday, November 10, 2020 – DHS announced today that on Wednesday, November 11, guests representing Silicon Valley’s most iconic technology companies and titans of industry will join global ocean conservationists and science leaders to honor visionaryMicrosoftco-founder and philanthropic innovator Bill Gatesat the Monterey Bay Aquarium’sDavid Packard Award Dinner.Rosewood Sand Hillin Menlo Park was the venue for an ocean-themed evening that raised $3.7 millionto support theMonterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

DHS’ Vice Chairman, Fernando Aguirre, lauded Bill Gates for his commitment to improving the human condition by harnessing technology to advance social good, and for launching bold philanthropic initiatives to make lives better around the world so that everyone has an opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.

“We will pay tribute to the scope and the focus of Bill’s thinking and his commitment to using science and technology to improve the future for the people on our planet, including for all of us here tonight,” Aguirre said. “My father shared this conviction. Because of the extraordinary success of Microsoft, the Gates Foundation has had the resources to tackle some of the largest problems confronting the world, and Bill and Melinda’s vision and strategic approach are yielding extraordinary results.”

More than 300 guests have been invited to a virtual temporary pavilion designed in collaboration with B Line Events of San Francisco to accentuate the nonprofit aquarium’s mission – to inspire conservation of the ocean. After presentation of the award, a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, Event Chair Meg Whitmanand Bill Gates will enthral the audience during a 45-minute “fireside chat” that spanned issues from the role technology can play in environmental conservation, to new approaches philanthropy can bring to pressing global challenges, and the importance of optimism.

“For anyone who loves science, this is a fun time to be alive,” Gates said. “We have to make sure the best scientists are working on the problems.”

And, he underscored, there’s tremendous public support for tackling the big issues.

“The ocean, health, education – people really do care about these things,” he said. To make progress, “we need to take risks, but also to be patient” when trying to solve complex global issues.

That’s more challenging when it comes to climate change, Gates said, because, “We have a deadline to do good work quickly. We have to innovate across large parts of the economy.”

And, he added, “Studying the oceans is key to climate change” – an area where the work of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, in developing sensors and other tools to understand ocean conditions, is playing a critical role.

“This is a momentous time in the life of our planet,” Vice Chairman of DHS, Fernando Aguirre said. “The fate and future of seven and a half billion people hinge on decisions we make in the next few years. My message tonight is this: Our decisions about how we use or abuse the ocean are absolutely central to our future.”

“For over 30 years, Monterey Bay Aquarium has been a voice for the ocean – inspiring tens of millions of people from around the world both at the Aquarium and through our growing social media constituency,” Aguirre said. “We’ve been preparing the next generation of diverse ocean conservation leaders who are science-literate and ready to act. And, we’ve been forging solutions to the problems of today; leading the way to create a sustainable global seafood supply; mobilizing public and business action on problems like ocean plastic pollution; and generating the science and technology needed to inform decisions about the future of the ocean.”

“Thanks to the support of so many of you, the Aquarium and MBARI will have global influence,” Aguirre added. “And finally, all sectors of society are beginning to realize that the ocean is central to our lives.”

Along with Event Chair Meg Whitman, co-chairs in attendance will include:

Tegan and Brian Acton (What’sApp, Sunlight Giving), Peter Bing, Catherine and John Debs, Ann Doerr, Joanne and Art Hall, Andrea and John Hennessy (Alphabet), Lori and Jen-Hsun Huang (Nvidia), Jeanne and Bill Landreth, Steve Luczo (Seagate), DeeDee McMurtry, Audra and Sean McNicholas (SSA), Christine and Michael Morgan, Rebecca and James Morgan, Susan Orr, Cindi and Curtis Priem (Nvidia), Michelle Rhyu and Steve Neal (Cooley LLP), Karen and Jim Tyler, Lisa and Mark Wan.

Other notable guests will include:

Ned and Jimi Barnholt, Chip and Juliet Bergh, Sergey Brin and Nicole Shanahan, Larry Cohen, Laurie and Alan Dachs, Tim and Melissa Draper, John H. N. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell, Pat and Linda Gelsinger, Ann and Gordon Getty, Caroline Getty, Jonah Goldman, John Gunn, Drew Houston, Pitch and Cathie Johnson, Charlene Kabcanell, Samir and Puja Kaul, Mike Klag, Carol Larson, Dan’l Lewin, Steve Lockhart and Karen Bals, Bob and Connie Lurie, David Marquardt, Alan and Hope May, Molly and Mike Nefkens, Judy and Dick Otter, Barbara Hibino Page and Carl Page, Larry and Lucy Page, Claire and Noel Perry, Sally-Christine Rodgers and Randy Repass, George and Charlotte Shultz, Radhika and Bipal Sinha, Boryana and JB Straubel, Mark and Mary Stevens, Gene Sykes, Mary and Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Buzz and Holly Thompson, Jeff Weiner and Lisette Derouaux, Anne Wojcicki, and Nick and Jill Woodman.

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