Tech entrepreneur David Bohnett knew he was gay growing up in Chicago in the 1960s, but didn’t come out publicly until he was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California. Living closeted, then out, he says, made him appreciate the value of community and connecting with people who have similar interests—a regard that eventually led him in 1994 to co-found GeoCities.com, a pioneering social media site that built virtual communities in “neighborhoods” around common interests. When Yahoo bought GeoCIties in 1999, Bohnett put much of his nearly $300 million in profits into a foundation that also focuses on fostering connection, particularly among the LGBTQ+ community.
Since then, the David Bohnett Foundation has disbursed more than $135 million on initiatives that help connect people through the support of arts groups, a national network of cybercenters for the LGBT community, training programs for civic leaders, voter education, and other causes. Of the $7.5 million gifted last year, the largest single donation, $3 million, went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Over the years, he’s donated more than $27 million to over 300 LGBT groups, including $3.2 million to the LGBTQ Victory Institute and $2.6 million to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
With federal budget cuts now roiling the nonprofit community, Bohnett says his immediate goal is to keep funding his long standing projects, such as the scholarships for LGBTQ+ elected officials to attend a three-week training program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and helping the charities he supports maintain funding by introducing them to potential donors. “I don't feel making an introduction is a burden,” he says. “You're giving them an opportunity to learn about something that they might want to contribute to and might feel really great about.”