The Foundation's co-founders speak regularly to universities, school systems, philanthropic peers, and policymakers about the work — what's worked, what hasn't, and what we're still figuring out. Talks are research-grounded and program-grounded, drawn from the Foundation's active programs and from Chuck's peer-reviewed research at Stanford.
These are the talks we are most asked to give. Each one is anchored in either Foundation programming or peer-reviewed research, and each can be tailored for academic, philanthropic, or policy audiences.
A research-grounded look at which entrepreneurship training programs change outcomes for founders — and which ones don't. Drawing on Chuck's peer-reviewed work tracing graduates of elite pre-entrepreneurship programs, Stanford alumni founder data, and field studies across emerging markets.
Universities, accelerators, philanthropic funders, education policymakers
Lessons from the Foundation's work bringing computer science and AI curriculum into Molokai schools and Malaysian educator workshops. How AI literacy programming survives — or fails to survive — contact with local pedagogies, languages, and community values.
School systems, teacher-training programs, education foundations
How institutions, policy, and capital shape whether university entrepreneurship programs actually produce companies. Comparative cases drawn from the Foundation's work across the Pacific, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East — with practical implications for program design.
University leaders, international development organizations, ecosystem builders
How a small family foundation can use mission-related investments alongside grants to expand reach without expanding overhead. Practical lessons on diligence, structure, and the legal and tax considerations that small foundations actually face.
Family foundations, philanthropic advisors, family offices
Why some universities reliably produce founders and others don't — and what the institutional features (policy, networks, faculty incentives, student culture) look like in practice. Based on Stanford alumni research and comparative work across global universities.
University leadership, government innovation agencies, research institutions
Speaking and teaching engagements are one of the Foundation's primary funding sources. When we accept an invitation in our Foundation capacity, the honorarium is paid directly to the Foundation and redeployed into our programs — so a workshop with a Korean executive cohort, a panel for a Bay Area mentor summit, or a faculty development session in Palo Alto translates straightforwardly into curriculum delivered in Molokai, microloan capital in Uganda, or a teacher trained in Penang. Travel and lodging may be reimbursed by the host. Talks given in Chuck's individual academic capacity are arranged separately through Stanford.
We say yes when the audience is one we'd want to learn from too.
Beyond formal talks, Chuck occasionally records short reflections from engagements he’s invited to — moments where a question from the room, a frame from a colleague, or a conversation off the podium produces something worth pausing on.
Tell us who the audience is, what you're trying to make happen, and roughly when. We'll respond within a couple of weeks.
