Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley leaders recently launched FWD.us, a political advocacy group.
According to the Associated Press, the bipartisan political group targets immigration policy reform, advocating education and a revival scientific research investment. Top tech elites including Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer joined Zuckerberg in his latest advocacy venture.
Causes.com founder Joe Green is FWD.com's president and founder. Support is provided by LinkedIn Corp. CEO Reid Hoffman, venture capitalist John Doerr and Jim Breyer, and Dropbox's CEO Drew Houston, among others.
In his Washington Post opinion piece, Zuckerberg credits a "welcoming immigration policy, a great education system and the world's leading scientific community that created the Internet" for his success in creating a successful company.
Zuckerberg's great-grandparents immigrated to Ellis Island. With FWD.us, Zuckerberg aims to advocate for education in an economy "based primarily on knowledge and ideas-resources that are renewable and available to everyone."
Proposed policies include securing the U.S. border, establishing a streamlined process for admitting future workers, creating pathways to citizenship, developing an employment verification program, and reforming the legal immigration system.
Zuckerberg's previous political efforts included donating $100 million to Newark N.J.'s public schools in 2010, and organizing a fundraiser for republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the group will be located in Silicon Valley, with former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Rob Jesmer leading research, advocacy and communication efforts in Washington, D.C.
"Across America, creative, hardworking people in coffee shops, dorm rooms and garages are creating the next era of growth," Zuckerberg wrote. "Let's embrace our future as a knowledge economy and help them-and all of us-reach our full potential."
