As of: March 27, 2024, 10:19 a.m
Comments
Press
Split
Nicole Shanahan and Robert Kennedy are now running together in the US elections.
What is known about the philanthropist from California?
Sacramento, CA –
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent candidate, has selected tech lawyer and major donor Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
Kennedy made the announcement Tuesday in Shanahan's hometown of Oakland, California.
For the 2024 election, Kennedy was looking for someone with “strong ideas”
In making the announcement, Kennedy said he was looking for someone who shared his "passion for whole, healthy food, chemical-free, regenerative agriculture and good soil."
He said he was also looking for someone who has a "deep inside knowledge of how Big Tech is using AI to manipulate the public" and someone with "strong ideas about how to reverse the threat to democracy and our freedoms."
Kennedy said that, like him, Shanahan was disillusioned with the government and the Democratic Party.
“Our values haven’t changed, but the Democratic Party has,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy and Nicole Shanahan.
© Brian Cahn/Imago
As a political novice, Shanahan donated to Kennedy's campaign and the super PAC that supported his candidacy - including $4 million, which she told The New York Times helped finance the commercial that American Values ran for him during the Superbowl in 2024.
She has never held elected office but has deep roots in the tech world and has previously donated to Democratic campaigns, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Read The Washington Post for free for four weeks
Your quality ticket from washingtonpost.com: Get exclusive research and 200+ stories free for four weeks.
Shanahan: “I didn’t think much of him”
As she introduced herself to Kennedy supporters on Tuesday, Shanahan admitted that she didn't think much of Bobby Kennedy a year ago.
“I didn’t think much of him because I didn’t know much.
All I knew were the mainstream media reports,” she said.
“But then one day a friend took me aside and said, 'Nicole, please do me a favor.
Listen to just one interview with Bobby Kennedy.
Only one.'"
My news
Baby happiness after the end of his career: Olympic ski champion becomes a father for the first time a few days after retirement
Bankruptcy of German industry giant: next traditional company goes bankrupt
After attack in Moscow: Putin ally Lukashenko accidentally torpedoes Ukraine claim read
“Technical problems” with the Leopard: Denmark points to Germany after bumpy Ukraine donation
2 hours ago
Prisoner escapes while being treated at the clinic - and is caught two days later after being tipped off
Sweater, park bench, daffodils: The hidden messages in Princess Kate's video reading
Shanahan said it was his "commitment to peace and to the well-being of the hardworking people of America that attracted me to his candidacy as a compassionate person."
“I saw an intelligent, compassionate and sensible person,” she said.
“I saw a fellow lawyer who was committed to finding the truth and fighting for the environment and for people.
I discovered a human being who speaks out on issues that, despite being critical to people's health and well-being, are consistently ignored by our government.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt hope for our democracy again.”
Shanahan officially renounced her membership in the Democratic Party at the rally, saying she was disillusioned with it because she had "lost her way."
Here's what you need to know about Shanahan as she joins Kennedy in running against former President Donald Trump and President Biden in November.
The California native was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin
Shanahan, 38, was born in Oakland to a Chinese immigrant mother and a mentally ill father.
In an essay published last year in People magazine, Shanahan wrote that she learned as a child that “bad things happen, injustice happens, but there are always ways to overcome it.
It is a matter of relentless commitment to yourself. I will never stop striving for self-actualization, for myself, my family and for the communities I serve.”
In an interview with Puck published in 2022, Shanahan said that her mother came to the United States through family sponsorship and worked as a maid to make ends meet.
Shanahan has said she grew up on welfare, and she told Puck that she "never felt poor" growing up, "because I believed that the safety nets we had in the '90s were actually pretty good." were.
I lived on them."
“I survived from them, and I felt like I had the opportunity to thrive,” she said.
According to her LinkedIn page, she received her bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound and her law degree from Santa Clara University.
From 2018 to 2023, Shanahan was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
The two have a daughter together.
Last year, Shanahan "committed" to her partner Jacob Strumwasser, who formerly worked on Wall Street and is now a consultant at a Bitcoin development firm.
Formerly a tech entrepreneur, Shanahan now works in philanthropy
In the essay for People, Shanahan said she spends most of her time "advocating for climate solutions, social justice and women's reproductive science" as well as focusing on autism research.
“About two years ago our daughter was diagnosed with autism, and because of that diagnosis I have a new cause to focus on (as is typical of my experiences, I rarely look for causes to support, find them). me),” she wrote in the essay.
“I have worked with researchers to understand the variations of autism, the biological markers that could help us diagnose autism earlier, and even what causes autism.
It’s amazing what we’re learning, and we’re already seeing overlap with the work being done in reproductive longevity, climate and social justice.”
Shanahan founded the Bia-Echo Foundation, whose stated goal, according to its website, is to invest in "changemakers" who are "addressing some of the world's greatest challenges...reproductive longevity and equality, criminal justice reform, and a healthy and livable planet."
Shanahan explained to Puck in 2022 that her focus on reproductive longevity stems from a personal experience.
“At the age of 30, I thought I wouldn’t be able to have any more children.”
“An experience that so many women have in today’s world,” she said.
“In your late 20s and early 30s, when you're entering the prime of your career, you feel an early form of death.
You lose something.
Imagine becoming blind or losing the ability to hear.
This is about the ability to do something that is so fundamental to the human experience: having a child, being a mother, raising a family.”
Shanahan said she tried freezing embryos, but due to medical circumstances she realized she would not be able to successfully go through a full round of IVF.
“At the age of 30, I didn’t think I could have any more children,” she said.
“And I felt like it was my responsibility to help other women in similar situations feel stronger.
Because I felt so helpless.”
Shanahan also said she worries about the future of
Roe v.
Wade
made the comment after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020, did not resign from the Supreme Court during the Obama administration, and that she realized that work on reproductive longevity would be much more important in a world where Roe no longer exists .
Pro-life, pro-choice?
Science!
“I think the division in this country is very unfortunate because at the end of the day we all agree that life is very valuable,” she told Puck.
“And I think that the pro-life versus pro-choice narrative is just not right for today.
The right thing for today is: Let’s use technology as a connector to bring us together, not divide us.”
Shanahan said the “execution” of
Dobbs v.
Jackson Women's Health Organization
- the Supreme Court decision that ended
Roe
- "infuriates."
“I think that as a community, on both sides of the aisle, we don’t yet understand how we can evolve beyond this moment,” she said.
“But we need to evolve, and I believe science is helping us do that... I believe we can bridge that empathy gap that gets us to a place where we evolve into something even better than
Roe
.
Before turning to philanthropy, Shanahan founded
ClearAccessIP
, a company that helps intellectual property owners develop and manage their technology using AI.
Shanahan was also a fellow at the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, where, according to the program's website, she launched "Project Smart Prosecution - a multidisciplinary project applying data science to law enforcement."
She has donated to Democratic candidates before - including Biden
Shanahan donated $25,000 to the joint fundraising efforts of Biden's 2020 campaign and the Democratic Party, FEC filings show.
Shanahan also donated to the campaigns of Democrats Marianne Williamson and Pete Buttigieg this election cycle before endorsing Biden.
About the author
Mariana Alfaro
is a reporter for The Washington Post's political news team.
The native of El Salvador has been working for the post office since 2019.
Previously, Mariana interned at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Insider, and The Texas Tribune.
During Tuesday's rally, Shanahan officially left the Democratic Party and encouraged other disillusioned members of the party to join her and Kennedy in their campaign.
“The Democratic Party should be the party of compassion and peace, it should be the party of diplomacy and science,” she said.
“I know these ideals are still alive in many Democrats, but I want to point out that the party has lost its way.
In their leadership, in their institutions, they are interested in elitism, celebrity and winning at all costs, even if that means turning a blind eye to issues they all know to be true.
Shanahan is relying on his own initiative for the presidential election in the USA
“I know this because I have moved in these circles for the last eight years and have grown increasingly fed up with it,” she added.
“It was only when I met Bobby and the people who support him that I gained hope for the outcome of this election.
She also appealed to Republicans who are at odds with her party, saying she "also saw conservative voters through different eyes."
“I met hunters and farmers who are some of the fiercest conservationists I have ever met and understand ecosystems better than most,” she said.
“I have met mothers who protect their children and use all possibilities for their health.
And yet the Republican Party, like the Democratic Party, is failing them because the party’s actions distract from the values that actually support individual freedom.”
The philanthropist financed Kennedy's campaign commercial during the Super Bowl
Shanahan's latest campaign donation came in the form of a 30-second Super Bowl spot.
The commercial, sponsored by the super PAC supporting Kennedy's candidacy, recreated an old political commercial used for John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and placed it in support of his nephew's independent campaign in 2024 - and resulted in the conviction of several members of the Kennedy family.
The
New York Times
reported that Shanahan was a "primary source" of financing and creative direction for the $4 million ad.
In an interview with the Times, Shanahan said she wanted to highlight Kennedy's running for president and was motivated by her concerns about the environment, vaccines and children's health.
“I'm concerned about vaccine harm,” she told the Times, clarifying that she is “not anti-vaccine” but would like to see better scrutiny of the risks of vaccinations.
“I think there needs to be a space to have these conversations.”
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on March 27, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.