I came from a background where things weren’t easy, and I’m keenly aware that public systems and public education helped me get a real shot, and that luck is always a factor. I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate to build Stack Overflow and Discourse, and I don’t think it’s enough to just “make it” and call that success.

Watching my son’s high school perform The Outsiders reframed “stay gold” for me – the American Dream is incomplete until we share it with our fellow Americans.

The Pledge

That’s why my family made a public commitment to Share The American Dream:

• We made eight immediate $1M gifts to organizations dealing with urgent needs, and quickly followed up with a subsequent set of nine $1M gifts
• We pledged to give away an additional $50M within five years toward longer-term systemic changes that protect opportunity and strengthen democracy

Long-Term Focus

In the March 20, 2025 essay “The Road Not Taken is Guaranteed Minimum Income” I announced that we chose Guaranteed Minimum Income as the second half of the pledge.

Guaranteed Minimum Income is simple: regular, unconditional cash support to households below a certain income threshold. It puts cash in the hands of struggling families, building on programs we already have — like Social Security, SSI, and the EITC — with less bureaucracy. When the most financially stressed households stabilize, the benefits spread through families and neighbors because people share, relationships strengthen, and communities prosper.

That’s why the plan isn’t just to talk about GMI, but to fund and measure GMI.

How We Work

GiveDirectly and OpenResearch are the two organizations that know the most about implementing GMI studies in the United States, so we partner with them, start in rural counties experiencing generational poverty, track outcomes like work, health, and community engagement, and share our data globally.

We roll this out in groups of three counties. Each time, we’ll use feedback from participants and partners to listen, measure, and improve – applying what we learned to the next three counties. Then we repeat, ideally reaching all 50 states over time.

By October 2025, we were on the ground in Mercer County, WV launching the first rural GMI study with my father in the county he was born and grew up.

In November 2025, we were in Beaufort County, NC launching the second rural GMI study with my mother in the county she was born and grew up.

In January 2026, we were in Warren County, MS launching the third GMI study and our first group of three counties.

2025 was a year of many changes, and we are now in an era of great change. We think it’s up to all of us, working together, to make those changes positive ones that benefit everyone. Let's be brave and take a leap of faith for a better future.

In other words, “Might as well jump.”