At the intersection of philanthropy and sustainability, Wendy Schmidt stands out for her innovative approach to addressing global challenges. Her work transcends traditional charity, rooted in “systems thinking,” a holistic method that considers the interconnections within ecological, social, and economic systems.

Schmidt’s journey into this realm began somewhat unexpectedly through her career as an interior designer. It was here that she became acutely aware of how design choices impact resource use and waste generation. This awareness grew into a profound commitment to addressing broader environmental challenges, particularly those related to climate change, sustainable food systems, equity, and ocean health. Her dedication led to the creation of the Schmidt Family Foundation with her husband Eric and a constellation of initiatives aimed at fostering systemic change.

Among these is the Schmidt Ocean Institute, which exemplifies the Schmidts’ approach to philanthropy: leveraging cutting-edge technology and interdisciplinary research to explore and protect the world’s oceans.

Schmidt’s work extends beyond traditional grant-making. Through entities like the 11th Hour Project, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, and Schmidt Sciences, she supports innovative projects and ventures that push the boundaries of what’s possible in nature conservation and environmental sustainability.

One of the core principles underpinning Schmidt’s efforts is “venture philanthropy.” This concept borrows elements from venture capital, focusing on high-impact, scalable solutions to environmental problems. For instance, the 11th Hour Racing initiative merges professional sailing and environmental activism. By sponsoring sailboat races that collect critical data on ocean health, this program not only raises awareness but also contributes valuable scientific insights.

Similarly, the 11th Hour Project’s work in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlights Schmidt’s commitment to addressing complex issues through innovative solutions. By supporting the construction of micro-hydropower systems, the project helps protect gorilla habitats from deforestation while providing alternative livelihoods for local communities. These initiatives reflect Schmidt’s belief in the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic systems.

Schmidt’s philosophy is perhaps best encapsulated in her own words from a 2020 interview with Mongabay: “We approach problems with systems thinking — examine what elements are contributing, and why, and what assumptions underlie the system. Find creative ways — including technology — to redefine the problem you are trying to solve.” This mindset allows Schmidt and her team to design models that address overlooked aspects of complex issues, moving towards more resilient and sustainable solutions.

A significant part of Schmidt’s vision involves utilizing new media and immersive experiences to foster a deeper connection with environmental issues. She believes that virtual reality and other emerging technologies offer unique opportunities to engage the public in ways traditional media cannot. “We are just entering this new chapter of media, representing a sense of wonder and possibility for storytelling,” she notes. By creating interactive, immersive experiences, Schmidt hopes to change how people perceive and relate to the natural world, fostering a greater sense of responsibility and stewardship.

In April 2024, Grist Founder Chip Giller and Schmidt announced the launch of Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, a philanthropic organization that aims to help creators and nonprofit leaders harness the power of extended reality (XR) technologies to spur positive social transformation, opening new avenues for empathy, understanding, and activism.

Immersive media and XR—including virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and other emerging technologies—go beyond traditional forms of storytelling by putting users into the action, engaging their senses, and fostering connection with others and with the natural world. Agog will serve as a hub for collaboration, cultivating partnerships among XR creators and nonprofit leaders, and providing resources to envision new forms of communication and turn them into reality. As immersive media enter the mainstream, Agog seeks to help people use leading-edge XR to imagine and build a more just, sustainable world, addressing pressing global challenges and nurturing a deeper sense of empathy and interconnectedness.

This approach is exemplified by the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s use of real-time footage from deep-sea expeditions. These broadcasts allow anyone with an internet connection to join scientists as they explore previously unseen parts of the ocean. Such initiatives aspire to not only democratize access to scientific discoveries but also to highlight the beauty and fragility of marine ecosystems, inspiring a broader audience to care about ocean conservation.

Schmidt’s background in journalism also informs her approach to storytelling. Early support for digital environmental journalism platform Grist showcases her belief in the power of narrative to shape public understanding and drive change. This belief extends to her philanthropic efforts, where she emphasizes the importance of telling compelling stories that resonate with people’s values and emotions.

However, Schmidt is acutely aware of the challenges and criticisms associated with new technologies. Concerns about virtual reality and augmented reality creating further disconnection from the real world are valid, but Schmidt believes these tools, when used purposefully, can enhance our understanding and empathy for the natural world. She advocates for experiences that are thoughtfully designed to offer insight and foster a deeper connection with the environment, rather than merely serving as escapist entertainment.

In her philanthropic work, Schmidt places a strong emphasis on inclusivity and equity. She expresses a commitment to ensure that the benefits of technological advancements and environmental initiatives are accessible to all, particularly marginalized communities. Her efforts to include diverse voices, especially those of Indigenous peoples, in the development of new technologies and policies underscore her holistic approach to problem-solving. By integrating traditional knowledge and contemporary science, Schmidt strives to create solutions that are both innovative and deeply rooted in respect for the natural world.

“We have the creativity and resilience as a species to make these changes; it’s crucial for our survival,” she said.

Schmidt spoke with Mongabay in May 2024 at the Schmidt Family Foundation’s office in Menlo Park, California.

AN INTERVIEW WITH WENDY SCHMIDT

Rhett Ayers Butler for Mongabay: What inspired your involvement in Agog?

Wendy Schmidt: We’re just entering this new chapter of media, representing a sense of wonder and possibility for storytelling. This immersive experience allows us to develop a website that users can interact with by entering, touching, and moving around in. I’ve had the opportunity to see this evolve rapidly over the last six months.

Chip’s idea, his project, shows that we can change the way people think by affecting how they feel, and you change how they feel by showing them something they’ve never seen before, which is central to all of our philanthropic efforts. We live in an age where we can view things like the SOI footage that no human has ever seen before. When you see these things, it changes your understanding of where you live and what exists here.

Our historical systems have been defined by our knowledge, but those boundaries are expanding. Now, in the age of virtual reality, it’s crucial to shape this technology from the start with diverse voices. The products developed for nonprofits should be just as good as those for commercial use or entertainment. This technology is potent enough to change minds and hearts in ways that simple information cannot.

Mongabay: To what degree does your background in journalism influence your thoughts about this space?

Wendy Schmidt: Chip and I connected over our backgrounds in journalism. We were among the earliest funders of Grist, which was a pioneer in digital environmental journalism, never even having a printed version. We are leaping into storytelling in a way no one else is doing. Storytelling is what binds us together, tells us who we are, and imagines future possibilities. That’s why it’s so important to get it right.

Mongabay: Considering the costs associated with these devices, how is your organization thinking about access?

Wendy Schmidt: Thinking about technology in terms of access is fundamental for us. Like all technologies, they start expensive and become cheaper. For example, smartphones are now ubiquitous globally, even in [remote rural areas], where many people have access to an affordable version. We believe that virtual, augmented, and extended reality will eventually become ubiquitous too.

As this technology develops, we want to include voices from people who have not been included before, whose lives are not widely understood. We’re learning from indigenous communities and their leaders, who have a completely different worldview from the one I grew up with. For example, they see every step taken on the earth as sacred, considering the earth as Mother Earth. Their relationship with the land is about stewardship, not ownership, which contrasts sharply with Western views.

These perspectives should be woven into the development of new technologies like AI. If these come only from engineers in Silicon Valley, we’re missing a holistic framework. We’ve seen the consequences of technologies developed rapidly without this kind of thought, like social media, which has contributed to societal divides. We need to rethink and redesign our approaches with sustainability in mind, drawing on the wisdom of peoples who have lived sustainably for thousands of years.

Mongabay: You mentioned social media and traditional ways of stewarding the Earth, focusing on empathy. It seems you are optimistic that this technology can help build empathy not only for other people but also for ecosystems and other species. However, what about the concern that people might start living in virtual worlds and disconnect from the real world?

Wendy Schmidt: That criticism is always there, isn’t it? The concern that it will isolate you further and you’ll disappear into your headset. I think that’s certainly possible, but if you’ve ever tried it, it’s hard to stay in it for very long because people get nauseous and disoriented. There might be some adaptation needed to address that.

I feel the technology has to be purposeful to work. You don’t want to watch a movie that never ends. A movie has a beginning, middle, and an end, and you come away with something—that’s what’s satisfying.

In my experience with virtual reality, there’s a difference between having an avatar body that you have to constantly control and worry about, and a disembodied experience, which I think a lot of this technology is moving towards. For example, you could be floating above the planet experiencing the overview effect like what astronauts probably experience when they’re in space when they are looking at this fragile planet. Or maybe you’re in an experience like the one we did a few weeks ago called Forager, where you’re essentially a mushroom in the soil experiencing growth through a network of mycelial connections. You’re lying on a bean bag, so it’s full sensory and you’re completely not thinking about your body. There’s a fan that’s blowing cool air and there’s sound but you’re immersed in it and you come up through the ground as the plant grows and you are part of the system.

These experiences can be peaceful and spiritual, connecting us all. They are transformative, and that’s the aim of our philanthropy—to transform the way people see the world.

The other tools, the ones we use with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and the images from the expeditions are available for anyone to participate in. You can be in the control room on the ship while it’s diving. I experienced this one Saturday last fall when they were off the coast of South America, exploring an octopus nursery known to be there but not revisited in a decade. They lowered SuBastian, equipped with cameras, and I was sitting on my sofa watching. I was supposed to go sailing, but this had me engrossed. I ended up texting the boat captain that I’d be late because I was watching an octopus nursery, promising to keep her posted.

As I watched, I suddenly heard the scientists in the control room exclaim as a small octopus emerged from the nest, where mothers might brood for up to five years to protect their hatchlings. They had never seen such an hatchling before. One by one, little octopuses appeared and ventured off. This spectacle, never before recorded on video or shared, was unfolding live. The scientists were as excited as I was, describing the scene: the young octopuses were now potential prey, vulnerable without their mothers’ protection.

It felt like I had become part of this hidden world. It’s a way to change our perception, right? Sharing these experiences openly, in real time, is crucial—not just among scientists but with the public. Our target audience for the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s material isn’t just ocean lovers or coastal dwellers; it’s those who don’t think they care. If we can reach them, we will have succeeded. We equate a healthy life on land with a healthy ocean. People often ask how to make the ocean healthy. I say it starts with composting to create healthy soil in your communities, which in turn helps heal the ocean. We need to make informed decisions about our world.

While we can’t individually solve the plastics crisis in the ocean, we can change how we live and choose to spend our money and live our lives differently. But fundamentally, the system must change. We must work on both fronts.

Mongabay: Considering deep-sea exploration, there have been so many new discoveries via Schmidt Ocean Institute, including some amazing species. This probably isn’t a fair question, but do you have a favorite?

Wendy Schmidt: Every dive with the submersible SuBastian reveals unexpected sights; over 650 dives since 2016 have shown us things no one has seen before, including the last expedition, which yielded a hundred new species alone. For example, we found a photosynthetic creature that thrives in darkness, a type of coral, which is astonishing. Choosing a favorite is difficult; every discovery is unique and some creatures, like the adorable Dumbo octopus, are particularly remarkable. These ecosystems are ancient, offering a perspective on humanity’s relatively short history and emphasizing the need to respect and integrate into these ancient systems to sustain our life support system on Earth.

Every discovery is wondrous, and some of these creatures are millions of years old. That gives us a perspective on humanity. We encounter creatures that have evolved over billions of years, which shows us how we need to fit into this world, not just live alongside it. We are really at a critical point where we need to integrate and not just interact with our environment.

Mongabay: You touched on your goal of moving “normal” people by showing the beauty and wonder of these ecosystems. Why should the average person care about the deep sea?

Wendy Schmidt: We’re not educated about the deep sea, nor are we taught to see our lives as part of a system that includes the ocean, atmosphere, and land. Everything is designed to work together, but we’re disrupting it. Emissions are altering the ocean’s chemistry, which has been stable for as long as humans have existed. This change is forcing species to migrate and affecting coral reefs, phytoplankton, and the ocean’s food chain. If we could educate young people about the deep ocean as a vital part of their life support system, it might seem unbelievable, but it’s true. All the freshwater inland is a product of the ocean’s hydrological cycle. We should be learning about this from a young age, understanding how to protect soil and address erosion caused by industrial agriculture and climate-induced heavy rainfall.

I recently read an interesting book by a soil scientist explaining that most soil types can’t grow food; only a specific type can. If we lose that thin layer, which is only found in certain places, it would take a million years to regenerate. This is what we’re facing. I want people to connect healthy soil, healthy seas, and healthy energy systems and ensure access for everyone. That’s the role of our philanthropy. We support policies that are equitable and inclusive.

Technology gives us the opportunity to use it to benefit everything around us rather than its disadvantage. We have ways to track illegal timber and fish, identify substances with DNA barcode scanners, and trace origins with blockchain. We can monitor ships and use technologies to rebuild coral reefs or replant oyster beds. It’s crucial to be part of the solution once we recognize a problem.

For instance, the bottom of the ocean is now covered with plastics. This material is useful but hard to replace, though some companies are working on biological alternatives for packaging, which makes up 40% of ocean trash. We need to design better reuse systems; the ones designed for plastic don’t work, as only 13% of plastics are recycled, with the rest burned or ending up in the ocean. We have the technology to improve and should invest in it.

Are you familiar with Ellen MacArthur of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation? I’ve been collaborating with Ellen since 2012 on projects like the New Plastics Economy. We’re also working on creating healthy food systems, aiming to bring products from farm to supermarket with a completely good chain along the way. This involves placing these products in supermarkets next to others that don’t share these qualities, letting consumers choose the right thing at the right price point. Ellen’s philosophy, inspired by her time on a sailboat where she set a world record, advocates for a circular economy. This approach benefits everyone by creating a healthier economy in the long run as materials become rarer and waste disposal becomes costlier.

Our early industrial revolutions didn’t account for waste, but in a world of limited resources, we must. We need to find ways to reuse everything, including rare metals used in batteries. A report by the World Wildlife Fund last fall explained how recovering cobalt, lithium, and other minerals from devices could reduce future demand by 58% over the next decade, even if we electrified the entire world. We don’t need to mine the ocean; we can mine what we have on land and recover it.

The more we explore the ocean and the deep, the more we realize it’s not a barren wasteland but a region rich in biodiversity. Similarly, we’ve underestimated the biodiversity of our soils. One of our grantees, the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, is studying fungi and fungal networks, mapping hotspots worldwide to show the dynamic transfer of nutrients in these systems. The more science and physics reveal to us, the more we realize we didn’t understand the world when we made the rules. Now, as we understand better, it’s time to make better rules.

Mongabay: Research and science aren’t always incorporated into policy. What do you recommend to strengthen this connection and get policymakers to use this information? On a similar front, what are the structural barriers preventing the mainstream adoption of the circular economy, especially given the usual business interests that may oppose it?

Wendy Schmidt: You’re always going to have opposition. To influence policy, you present a new perspective. For example, we have expanded marine protected areas by demonstrating what exists in those areas, like in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between South America and Hawaii, which is licensed for deep ocean mining. Our ship recently discovered new species there, challenging the notion that these areas are void of life.

This type of reporting helps paint a different picture of expectations. It’s easy to accept claims about the demand for minerals due to electrification, possibly based on reports like those from McKinsey, but looking outside the usual business framework offers new answers and opportunities.

One of Ellen MacArthur’s tenets is that it has to make business sense to do this; nobody’s going to do anything if they think they’re going to ruin their business. So, how you undertake the transition is important, and it’s going to take some courage and risks. What we like to do in philanthropy is be the people taking the risks. That’s our job. I’m giving money away; that’s my job. So why don’t I give the money to people trying to do something differently and better? And then make a lot of noise about it. Demonstrate that things are possible and do it in small communities.

I’ll give you an interesting example. During the pandemic, a lot of the large supply chains around the world broke, as you know. You remember all the ships sitting at the harbors, unable to unload, and factories shutting down because people were sick with COVID. And I don’t think the shipping world has recovered even yet. Speaking as somebody working in sailboat racing and people shipping things around, it used to be like a no-brainer. Now, things can’t catch up and get to places in time. There are still all kinds of problems in the system.

But on a regional basis, some places thrived during that period. In fact, there are regions where we have grantees working to support regional agriculture, dairies, farmers, and so forth. Some of those groups absolutely thrived during the pandemic because they were able to sustain themselves, they were able to fill contracts for food that they were able to take over things that the big system broke down and couldn’t do.

So the idea we take away from this is this notion of resilience. Nature is resilient. Our systems need to be resilient, our food needs to be resilient, our energy systems need to be resilient. Resilience means diversity. It means biodiversity. It’s a worldview that is not extractive. It’s not destructive. It looks to the seventh generation. It really tries to evaluate what we’re doing and to thrive at the same time, life is abundant, life is thriving. But we’re upsetting that balance? We’re desertifying lands. We’re sending people into migration patterns. It’s serious and it’s all connected. If we could teach people the way it’s all connected together and that you have to care for it all, we would have a little more reverence for what sustains our own lives.

Mongabay: Returning to a point you made earlier about Indigenous and traditional peoples, could you explain where the Indigenous communities program evolved from and what its current focus is?

Wendy Schmidt: The focus on Indigenous communities is relatively new for us. We’re learning a great deal about worldview perspectives. Currently, we are partially focusing on language restoration. There were hundreds of tribes in North and South America, each occupying every square mile with a rich history and knowledge that sustained them for tens of thousands of years. Language is crucial because it carries unique cultural knowledge, and the loss of language was a significant part of the destruction of Indigenous cultures in America. Reviving languages and restoring food ways and wisdom stories is vital and intriguing to modern people as it opens up a parallel universe.

My husband and I have endowed a chair of Indigenous studies at Princeton, which is a new department starting next fall. We are also initiating similar efforts at Stanford to mainstream these studies. Another significant issue for Indigenous peoples is the repatriation of lands. In native concepts, you do not own the land; you steward it. However, in today’s world, you often have to buy it back, so we are helping with that. We are also working to capitalize Native enterprises in ways that haven’t been done before. About 80 percent of funding for Native causes traditionally goes to non-Native-run organizations. We aim to change that, providing patient capital that can support long-term projects, whether it’s funding community banks or supporting clean energy projects on reservations, or reviving healthy food systems that once thrived.

We have a Native director for our Indigenous program, and we are continually learning and visiting, trying to reverse hundreds of years of exclusion from the development of this country. It’s time to include them, to learn from them, and to listen. That’s the least we can do, and we all stand to benefit from it.

Regarding specific examples, like the film distribution we supported for “Imagine the Indian,” which addresses the misrepresentation of native images as mascots in sports, it’s part of a broader movement against such practices. The film does an excellent job of helping viewers understand the impact of such misrepresentation.

On the materials and minerals side, our impact investment group focuses on finding bio-based alternatives to packaging and plastics. Some of these companies are beginning to make significant breakthroughs in material creation and reuse. I’m optimistic that we’ll see a major shift in the next decade. However, we face a big challenge with the petrochemical industry planning to increase plastic production by 40 percent over the next decade. It’s senseless, and we’ll need to tackle this through policy or regulation. The presence of microplastics in our bloodstream and the environment is unacceptable, and we need a major shift away from such practices. We have the creativity and resilience as a species to make these changes; it’s crucial for our survival.

Mongabay: We no longer have ignorance as an excuse. Regarding the circular economy, whether it’s food or anything else, what role do you see for consumers versus the market? If two products are of identical quality and price, and one is circular, will consumers make the right choice? How do you incentivize that and drive change?

Wendy Schmidt: Education is key. Most people want to do the right thing, but placing all the burden on the consumer won’t work because not everyone can be educated about these choices. We live in a system driven by producers who are sensitive to market signals, especially in the food industry. A five percent shift in demand can change their offerings; it doesn’t take everyone, just 10 percent of deeply committed people can shift the market. We aim to be in that 10 percent and show what can be achieved.

People are concerned about the health effects from modern pollution sources, including plastics and microplastics. The rates of cancer are rising, even among young people, and while the exact causes are unclear, we know the current situation is harmful—not just to us, but to the soil, air, and more. It’s only beneficial for keeping products like chicken fresh until they reach your home, but then the packaging persists in the environment for a century.

We need to refocus both people and businesses on sustainable opportunities. It’s a long-term effort; we are in a marathon, not a sprint. We strive to be part of the solution and a new way of viewing the world. For instance, my friend Evan Bayer works with mycelial fungi, creating packaging from mushrooms and now a type of leather. His facility in Vermont is pioneering these efforts, and his latest product is a form of bacon. He was an early grantee of ours, and it’s inspiring to see his innovations, like using mycelial products as marine buoys, come to fruition.

There’s also a company called Notpla, originally with a different name, that has developed a biologically-based plastic replacement. This is just the beginning. Informing consumers that they are part of the solution, especially when it’s easy for them, is crucial. This needs to snowball; it can’t be just one person—it has to scale throughout the system. We must reach markets where inexpensive, single-use packages are common because they end up polluting our oceans. People in these areas often have no other options. Our goal is to create viable alternatives.

Editor’s note: The following corrections were made shortly after publication. The name of the ROV is SuBastian, not Sebastian. The captain of the sailboat Wendy delayed her sail on while watching the octopus livestream is a “she” not a “he.” The baby octopuses are hatchlings not embryos.

Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt: ‘Solutions are always local’

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