Sean Parker

Biography

Sean Parker is a philanthropist and entrepreneur with a record of launching genre-defining companies and organizations. He is the founder and president of the Parker Foundation, which focuses on three areas: Life Sciences, Global Public Health and Civic Engagement. In April 2016, the Parker Foundation announced a $250 million grant to form the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which builds on Mr. Parker’s leadership in funding and promoting research into the relationship between the immune system and cancer. He helped to establish the Stand Up 2 Cancer and Cancer Research Institute’s (CRI) Immunology Dream Team in 2012, and was honored by CRI with the Oliver R. Grace Award for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research in 2013. Mr. Parker was ranked number 5 on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 2014 Philanthropy 50 list. In 2016 he received the Pontifical Key Philanthropy Award from the Vatican, the Jefferson Foundation Award for Outstanding Public Service by a Private Citizen and the Friends of Cancer Research Cancer Leadership Award.

Research Interest

Mr. Parker was the co-founder of Napster at age 19 and of Plaxo at 21. In 2004, he joined with Mark Zuckerberg to develop the online social network Facebook and served as Facebook’s founding president, and in 2007 he co-founded Causes on Facebook, which registered 180 million people to donate money and take action around social issues. In 2014, he announced his backing of Brigade, an online platform for civic engagement. Mr. Parker is also chairman and founder of the Economic Innovation Group, based in Washington D.C. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Alexandra and their two children.