The Great Philanthropists

Bill Walsh is at home this morning. Another afternoon finds him at Ameriscape Inc., a major tree and shrub nursery outside of Portland, Oregon.

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As a general partner of Sequoia Associates, a private investment firm based in California, Walsh pays many visits to Sequoia portfolio companies in the United States and Canada, to advise the management team on business dilemmas and decisions. He currently chairs or sits on the board of ten companies.

In the history of The American Ireland Fund there have been few more remarkable Board Directors than Bill Walsh, who has set a standard for philanthropic generosity that few can match. Added to a stellar business career he truly is an inspiration and great fun to be around.

Bill has been a partner in the venture capital firm of Sequoia Associates in Menlo Park since 1988. Since its inception in 1982, the firm has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire and restore financial health to over 20 ailing enterprises. Before joining Sequoia, Bill was President & CEO of Arcata Corporation and before that was a consultant with McKinsey and Company.

Bill began his career in the field of law enforcement. As Assistant US Attorney of the Southern district of New York from 1955 to ’58, Walsh ran narcotics investigations in the garment industry and on the waterfront, eventually winning the indictment of crime boss Vito Genovese. As Counsel to the New York State Commission of Investigation he targeted illegal gambling as a revenue source for organized crime, ultimately writing a book on the subject. Then his career turned from government lawyering to business.

Bill is currently co-chair of the Dean’s Academy Board of Harvard Law School, a member of the Board of Trustees of Fordham University and Chairman of the Board of the Neurosurgical Research Institute and on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution. The Hoover Institution on

War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University is a world-renowned library and archive, and a unique center of scholarship committed to generating ideas that define a free society. He has been a National Board Director of The American Ireland Fund since 1997 after being awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award. As a Board Director of The AIF and member of the Development Committee chaired by Kip Condron, he is always available with advice, encouragement and ideas or tips from the other non-profits he is so active with. His curiosity and excitement is infectious and allied to his sharp wit and humor, make him stimulating and challenging company.

A resident of Atherton, California, Bill earned a Bachelors degree from Fordham University and a Juris Doctor degree in 1955 from Harvard Law School. He is married to Jane and has 6 children. Bill credits his personal and professional success to his Jesuit education with its emphasis on ethics.
As ambassador to Bolivia for the Knights of Malta, he learned of a priest who needed help for the street-children there. Bill responded by funding the Street Children’s Hospital of La Paz.

In 1997 he contributed $10.5 million to Fordham University to establish the Walsh Family Library and an athletic center. In everything he does, Bill loves a challenge. Whether it is indicting an organized crime boss, rescuing companies from the brink of disaster, helping equip a hospital for Bolivian street children or visiting inner city youth centers in Dublin and Belfast, Bill tackles tough situations with amazing gusto. He shares that same passion for his family and enjoys spending his free time collecting Etruscan antiquities. Bill Walsh is truly an inspiration.

The American Ireland Fund caught up with Bill Walsh and his wife Jane in their beautiful home in Atherton. In the shade of the giant redwoods we had an opportunity to put some questions to him.

AIF: What is the Walsh connection to Ireland?

Bill Walsh: My father was born in County Mayo and my mother is third or fourth generation American of Irish descent. Her family name was Desmond.

AIF: Why is philanthropy so important to you, Jane and your family?

Bill Walsh: Since we possess a surplus of this world’s goods, philanthropy provides the opportunity to become engaged in those causes that we, our children, our grandchildren and our company’s executives want to invest time and thought in.

AIF: How did you get involved with The American Ireland Fund and why do you continue to support it?

Bill Walsh: Some years ago I was asked to accept the Distinguished Leadership Award at The American Ireland Fund annual dinner in San Francisco. In the process of making a decision about the award I came to know and appreciate what the Fund was attempting to accomplish through its support of worthy projects throughout the whole of Ireland.

AIF: Ireland up until recently had been doing quite well – why should we still give to the country?

Bill Walsh: In one significant respect Ireland continues to need help in resolving the centuries’ old conflict in Northern Ireland. I am therefore very much committed to supporting integrated education and other projects that go to help towards a lasting peace between the communities. There is a major job of reconciliation and reconstruction yet to be done there.

AIF: The Hope & History Campaign to raise $100 million in five years is nearing a successful conclusion…

Bill Walsh: Yes, the key to the success of that campaign was the quality of the voluntary leadership in the United States, and the identification, management and follow-through of worthwhile projects throughout Ireland. Central to this was the role of Senator Maurice Hayes and the advisory committee in Dublin. They do such a spectacular job of vetting and monitoring all the groups supported.

AIF: Looking back over a lifetime of involvement with non-profits, what do you think distinguishes one organization from another?

Bill Walsh: I think there are five factors:

1. An understandable and worthy cause
2. Strong and committed leadership, particularly at the Trustee level, demonstrating by word and deed their support with time, talent and treasure
3. A dedicated CEO who is not afraid to ask for funds
4. A good and steady communication program that constantly reports back on the difference the funds are making
5. And a small group of major contributors who taken together, provide at least fifty percent of the campaign goal.

This article first appeared in Connect -Winter 2004 issue