How the Tech Community Gives Assistance to Those Most in Need

"In college I always thought I’d be a lawyer, perhaps as a prelude to a career in government. Back then The New York Times regularly published long excerpts of Supreme Court opinions. I pored over them, eager to learn and digest the arguments. When it dawned on me that there might be a few tedious and otherwise distasteful steps between applying to law school and achieving jurisprudential greatness, I pivoted happily and then gleefully to journalism.

We’ve been slagging lawyers at least since Shakespeare, but recently I’ve begun to be reminded of the noble work at least some of them do. While listening to episodes of The Daily podcast by The Times, for example, I’ve learned of the heroic work immigration lawyers have done on the U.S border with Mexico. There they’ve been representing children and their families, victims of shameful government policies. These lawyers will never get rich doing this work. No one will offer them stock options in hot startups. But they make our democracy—and our civilization—stronger.

I thought again Friday about valorous attorneys when I attended the annual awards breakfast in San Francisco of Tipping Point, the organization that funds non-profit groups in the Bay Area that fight poverty and homelessness. Tipping Point is heavily supported by the San Francisco technology and finance communities and its board of directors is a who’s who of those industries, including Facebook (FB, +0.47%) vice president David Marcus, Palo Alto Networks (PANW, -0.77%) CEO Nikesh Arora, and Comcast Ventures (CMCSA, -0.62%) managing director Amy Banse. It is inspiring to see those who have been given so much giving back with their money and, almost as importantly, their time..."

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