Are America’s wealthiest giving enough?

Clearly some could give a lot more, but this isn’t about money alone. I’m working harder now than when I ran two Fortune 500 companies. My wife says that if I’d only go back to the corporate world, I’d have more time. I’ve stopped reading business magazines and started reading Education Week and Nature. I’m trying to create this as a fourth and different career. When I think about what we’re doing, I ask myself three questions: Will it be important 30 years from now? If we don’t do it, will it happen anyway? Do we have the management team that’s going to make it happen?

Where have you “made it happen” the most?

Urban school districts are big businesses, and you don’t see any bright people with M.B.A.’s and several years’ experience there. The Broad Residency has placed more than 100 people with M.B.A.’s in urban districts. We’re creating an elite corps of managers, some of whom we think will end up running districts. If we want the U.S. to be a competitive nation, we’ve got to do a far better job creating an educated workforce than we’ve been doing.