Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg welcomed their first child last week, a baby girl they named Max, and they’re already thinking of her future.
The First Couple of Facebook announced this week that they plan to donate 99% of their shares from the social media company–an estimated $45 billion–to various causes in the coming years in order to make the world a better place for Max and for her generation.
“Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today. We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation,” Priscilla and Mark wrote in an open letter to their daughter.
The decision immediately drew praise and criticism online, but the couple won’t elaborate just yet on what they plan to spend the money on, saying they will make those announcements in the coming months.
“Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” the letter read.
Of course, it’s been assumed that Mark and Priscilla will continue their work in the tech world as well, and the couple touched on the topic in the letter, saying they want to work to give future generations access to the tools and technology they need to succeed in education. Chan and Zuckerberg also noted that there is no quick fix for anything, and their plan will take quite a bit of work and time.
“We must make long term investments over 25, 50 or even 100 years. The greatest challenges require very long time horizons and cannot be solved by short term thinking…We must engage directly with the people we serve. We can’t empower people if we don’t understand the needs and desires of their communities,” Zuckerberg and Chan wrote.