The war in Ukraine is an ongoing tragedy that urgently needs coordinated international aid. It has created a refugee crisis that the world hasn’t seen since World War II, resulting in millions of Ukrainians leaving their country.
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation, founded by investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner, launched a new initiative on April 28, 2022, called Tech for Refugees that will further humanitarian aid for refugees in Ukraine and other parts of the world. The Foundation’s initial commitment is $100 million, which will largely support civilians fleeing Ukraine. Leading technology firms are also joining Tech for Refugees, including Airbnb.org, Flexport.org, and Spotify.
Tech for Refugees
The GoFundMe campaign Stand With Ukraine launched in March by celebrities Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher is the inspiration for Tech for Refugees. That campaign has raised almost $36 million so far, including $5.5 million from DST Global and the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Both of these organizations were founded by Yuri Milner. Like Stand With Ukraine, the goal of Tech for Refugees is to both support existing humanitarian aid programs for refugees and fund new ones. Tech for Refugees will partner with tech firms to develop new ideas for addressing the global refugee crisis.
Organizations
Tech for Refugees will leverage the expertise and other resources of many organizations to improve the lives of refugees in Ukraine and other parts of the world. Current partners include Airbnb.org, Flexport.org, and Spotify.
Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization founded by Airbnb, an online marketplace for lodging. It’s offering short-term housing at no charge for up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees by drawing on Airbnb’s vast network of hosts and technological infrastructure.
Flexport.org is a humanitarian aid program founded by Flexport, a global digital freight forwarder. This program uses Flexport’s partnerships with other international aid organizations to deliver emergency medical equipment and other forms of aid to Ukrainian refugees. It has already delivered 440 tons of aid as of April 2022.
Spotify is a media provider that specializes in audio streaming services. It will offer its Spotify Premium service to Ukrainian refugees at no cost. Spotify also plans to launch an ongoing effort to provide audio for children affected by the war.
Additional Causes
Yuri Milner supports additional philanthropic causes, some of which he has founded himself. These include the Breakthrough Prizes, Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and the Giving Pledge.
Breakthrough Prizes
Yuri Milner founded Breakthrough Prizes in 2012, along with his wife Julia and Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Anne Wojcicki, and Mark Zuckerberg. They are a set of international awards for advances in three fields, including mathematics, physics, and life sciences. Winners receive $3 million and remain eligible for future prizes.
Breakthrough Junior Challenge
Yuri Milner and his wife Julia launched the Breakthrough Junior Challenge in 2015 to galvanize a passion for scientific ideas among high school students. This global competition solicits short videos from contestants, in which they explain an idea in life sciences, math, or physics. These videos serve as valuable educational resources for students and others interested in these topics.
The contestants’ peers and experts in the field judge the submissions for that year, which number in the thousands. Winners of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge come from various countries, including India, Mauritius, and the Philippines. Prizes include a $250,000 college scholarship, a state-of-the-art science lab for the winner’s school, and $50,000 for the teacher who inspired the winner.
The Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a campaign founded in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett that encourages wealthy people to donate the majority of their money to philanthropic causes, either during their lifetime or upon their death. Yuri Milner joined the Giving Pledge in 2012.