{ COMMUNITY IMPACT } Bob Parsons
Ira Fulton
Executive chairman Go Daddy godaddy.com
Founder Fulton Homes fultonhomes.com
Fulton is a philanthropist, land developer, and businessman and founder of Fulton Homes. BusinessWeek listed Fulton among its “50 Most Generous Philanthropists” and reported that Fulton and his wife have given away about $265 million, approximately 60 percent of their net worth. Fulton has contributed millions to ASU, Brigham Young University and Barrow Neurological Institute. Surprising fact: “When I was a boy, we had a little hamburger stand in Tempe. I was the dishwasher. I was the youngest. And my mother would not turn away anyone who was hungry. I would say, ‘We can’t afford to do this.’ But she would say, ‘Son, they’re hungry.’ And I shut up because she’s my mom. I learned the principles of giving, and I didn’t even know it. My mother was a very generous lady.”
Founder and president The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation ivyfoundation.org
Founding partner DMB Associates dmbinc.com
Dorrance is the grandson of John T. Dorrance, who founded Campbell Soup in 1869. Dorrance owns about 14 percent of the firm and has been on the board since 1989. Dorrance is also a founding partner of DMB Associates, a Valley-based real estate development firm. The Dorrance Merit Scholarship was established by Bennett and Jacquie Dorrance at the Arizona Community Foundation in June of 1999. The original gift supported 10 Arizona public university students. What is now known as the Dorrance Scholarship Programs supports as many as 150 recipients at Arizona’s three public universities and at South Mountain Community College. The generosity and foresight of the Dorrances have made the scholarship one of the most influential, privatelyfunded educational initiatives in the state.
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Catherine Ivy
Bennett Dorrance
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Ivy is responsible for the administration, investment management, and grant-making of the Ivy Foundation. She monitors and participates in the design of the overall grantmaking strategies and policies emphasizing the needs of the brain tumor research. Biggest challenge: “I have to remind myself that science takes time and that I need to practice patience. People diagnosed with brain cancer don’t typically have much time to wait. I feel a great sense of urgency to end the suffering created by brain cancer. It is challenging to be patient.” Best advice to offer: “This may sound counter-intuitive for someone who works with scientists and researchers, but in addition to evaluating the available data, I recommend that people always follow their instincts.”
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Alfredo Molina Chairman and CEO Molina Fine Jewelers molinafinejewelers.com
Molina’s family’s lineage as jewelers dates back to 17th Century Italy. Molina entered the jewelry business at the age of 8, when he learned the diamond and gemstone business from his grandfather. He came to Phoenix with the dream of starting his own jewelry store. Since 1987, Molina Fine Jewelers has offered the rarest gems and exclusive jewelry. Professional strengths: “I have the right attitude and, more specifically, I have the right attitude towards serving others. By enriching their lives, I enrich my own life.”
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Toughest challenge: “When I started Molina Fine Jewelers, I had a negative net worth, no merchandise, no employees and no safety net. I did have a definitive purpose and the drive to succeed. When faced with difficult tasks, we have a choice to make. We can be fearful or we can believe.”
A serial entrepreneur, Parsons’ first endeavor was Parsons Technology, a software company he started in his basement in 1984, after teaching himself how to write computer programs. By the time he sold Parsons Technology to Intuit in 1994 for $64 million dollars, the company had nearly 1,000 employees, $100 million in annual revenue and 3 million customers. In 1997, Parsons started Jomax Technologies and renamed the company GoDaddy in 1999, and in 2000, GoDaddy became an ICANNaccredited domain name registrar. He gives back to the community through the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation. Best advice to offer: “Not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, ‘But I’m concerned about security.’ My response to that is simple: ‘Security is for cadavers.’”
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