Donny Wise on Why He Gives

Today, there are close to 1,800 staff members at RAND, working in concert to realize the organization’s mission: to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.

They build on the legacy of alumni who have come before: those who worked here at the very beginning, in the 1940s, and those who worked here until just recently. Donny Wise is one of the latter. He joined RAND in 2005, charged with researching and implementing systems to promote collaboration and sharing across research teams. Donny left in 2014 to devote himself full-time to his own education-focused business. But he remains very connected to RAND. When we launched our second Alumni Impact Fund, he was one of the first to donate.

“I like to support this type of research: research impacting the lives of people who need it,” says Donny. His business, QuikiTech.com, was created out of a desire to help the people who need it in his local community, “particularly boys and girls of color.” His company provides training in technology, math, and English to teachers in Los Angeles, so that they can better support their students. “The mission is to help teachers bring our next generation of youth into the technology age.”

Donny recognizes in the Alumni Impact Fund an opportunity to make a difference. “Under Michael Rich’s leadership, the research report is no longer the finish line. But without additional funding, the research will only go so far as the client wants, potentially leaving an important gap between the research and the policymakers who need to know about it. With the generosity of those who see the value in this mission, RAND can bridge the gap.”

If you, like Donny, believe that RAND research should be better known, better appreciated, and more widely used, please consider supporting the Alumni Impact Fund.