Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s $10 Million Donation To Antiracism Research Draws Praise On Social Media

Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey drew praise Thursday for donating $10 million to Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research. The contribution was greeted with commendation by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author, scholar, and founder of the center.

“Thanks @jack and #startsmall for supporting the @AntiracismCtr at @BU_Tweets,” Kendi tweeted initially. “Your $10M donation, with no strings attached, gives us the resources and flexibility to greatly expand our antiracist work. The endowment is vital, as we build our new Center.”

Kendi's tweet received nearly 4,000 likes within four hours.

“$10M to Dr. Ibram Kendi and the Center for Antiracist Research at BU,” Dorsey responded in a tweet. “This research will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change. I appreciate you Dr. Kendi, and I’m grateful for your work!”

According to a BU Today report, $9 million of Dorsey’s donation will go towards the center’s endowment. The other $1 million will go towards research funding and hiring new staff members.

“I’m elated,” Kendi said in a statement to BU Today. “You want something, you work for something, you think something could be transformative—like a major gift to the center—but you never know when you’re going to receive it. For Jack to commit to us and to trust us and invest in us, I’m still coming to grips with it.”

The donation was made through Dorsey’s Start Small initiative, in which he pledged to donate one-fifth of his $5 billion net worth to philanthropic causes, including COVID-19 research and relief efforts.

Dorsey has already donated $200 million. The donation to Kendi’s center is one of the campaign’s largest so far, behind one donation of $15 million and two donations of $20 million.

A noted scholar of race and police discrimination in the U.S., Kendi, 38, has written extensively on the subject. In the wake of the reaction to the killing of George Floyd, Kendi’s 2019 book, “How to Be an Antiracist” became a New York Times #1 Best Seller.