PROJECT INFORM IN OTHER MEDIA ... 2008

Gay Microsoft pioneer leaves $65M to LGBT groups

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff, 365Gay.com
February 24, 2008

(mention of Project Inform in bold below)

Seattle, WA — Ric Weiland, one of the first employees hired by Microsoft, and the first who was openly gay, has left $65-million to LGBT, HIV/AIDS, and education organizations.

It is believed to be the largest single bequest ever to LGBT groups.

Last July, at 53, he took his own life at his Seattle home.  Friends said that he had been depressed for some time. Weiland left behind his partner Mike Schaefer and numerous nieces and nephews.

In his will Weiland designated that Seattle's Pride Foundation administer the money. Over the next eight years it will be disbursed to 10 national LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations that he personally selected.

The bequest includes $19 million directly to Pride Foundation for scholarships and grants supporting the Northwest's LGBT community.

"Ric was one of Pride Foundation's closest supporters, not just as a donor, but as a board member and volunteer," said Audrey Haberman, executive director of the Pride Foundation. 

"All of us feel such a tremendous loss with him gone. Ric's bequest will do what he always wanted-inspire others to give to the causes they care about to the full extent that they can."

Haberman said that Weiland could have easily started his own foundation, but chose instead to work through existing national and local organizations. 

He was known for carefully vetting the charities he supported and shunning public accolades. Weiland intended his gifts to inspire people to work together for positive change and to strengthen the communities that they touched.

"Ric was a good friend, a terrific computer programmer and a very generous man," said Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and friend of Weiland.

"His gift to the Pride Foundation demonstrates his compassion and dedication to the community, and I'm very proud to have had him as a friend. 

Weiland first met Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in school and they became good friends. In 1975 Allen and Bill Gates  founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico hired Weiland and four others.

Weiland moved with Microsoft to Redmond Washington in 1979. He briefly left the company for a stint at the Harvard Business School returning to Microsoft in 1982. After leaving Microsoft in 1988, Weiland dedicated most of his time to philanthropy.

The organizations that  Weiland designated the money be given to include amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research; Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); In The Life; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC); Lambda Legal; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); Project Inform; and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.