About

Founder’s Message

We began with the idea of sharing some of the prosperity we had been blessed with those who were helpless and in need. But with so many compelling and  simultaneous needs in the world around scarcity and crisis to observe, help and better understand how our work would  be focused. Over time, we realized that by addressing the needs of children and youth, we would improve the communities where they live and the future of those communities. We also realized that we needed committed and able partners, both locally and abroad to implement this work in an effective and sustainable manner. Partners whose familiarity with the needs, framework and history of a region or whose expertise in the most recent medical or educational methods, medicines and technologies would allow our projects to succeed in substantially improving the lives of our intended populations. We formed the Ping and Amy Chao Foundation to better handle funding projects which respond to these needs. We hoped for these projects to succeed in achieving their stated goals in a fiscally responsible and timely way, so our foundation adopted best practices for project management, reporting and evaluation as well as guidelines for financial accountability and efficiency. We are thankful that in these first few years our foundation has enjoyed success in working with capable partners of vision and commitment in the areas of education, health and youth leadership development in the Greater China region and elsewhere. Our original idea of sharing has now developed into a deep conviction in sharing not only our assets with those in need but also in sharing our philosophy of philanthropy and volunteering with the next generation. We welcome you to join us in this meaningful work as partner, co-sponsor or volunteer.

Founder’s Biography

For over 25 years, Ping Chao has been a serial entrepreneur in high technology in Silicon Valley, California. He has been a technology and business leader in the Electronics Design Automation (EDA) industry since its infancy. In 1982, Ping co-founded ECAD which five years later, filed for IPO. Soon thereafter, in 1988, ECAD merged with SDA Systems to become the EDA powerhouse, Cadence. Then in 1990 He founded his second startup company PiE Design Systems with another successful IPO. Once again in 1996, he founded his third startup - Silicon Perspective Corp serving as its President and CEO.

In 2001 Silicon Perspective Corp was acquired by Cadence as one of the most successful merger & acquisition (M&A) in EDA history. From 2001-2005, Ping served as Cadence’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. Today, Cadence is the leading EDA company in the world with $ 1.615 billion in revenues (2007) over 5000 employees worldwide and a market cap of $5.36 billion. In 2005, Ping retired from Cadence to become a private venture investor and devote more time to
his philanthropic work.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Ping and his wife Amy founded the private, non-profit organization, the “Ping and Amy Chao Family Foundation”. The foundation aims to fund and nurture initiatives for improving the health and well-being of children in economically disadvantaged regions throughout the world; promoting the spirit of philanthropy and developing awareness of non-profit practices and opportunities for service for the younger generation of China and the greater Chinese Diaspora.

BSEE National Chiao-Ting University, Taiwan 1974

MSEE/CS University of California at Berkeley 1977

Oral History of Ping Chao (Computer History Museum): http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Chao_Ping/102658216.05.01.acc.pdf

Websites:
East Villagers Non-Profit Community www.eastvillagers.org
东村族中文版 www.dongcunzu.org