By Abigail Napp
When The Trade Desk Chairman, CEO and Founder Jeffrey T. Green discovered he would receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from 海角社区CI, he was thrilled and surprised.
鈥淚 was floored. I work with 海角社区 Channel Islands because I believe the University is doing important work that is making a difference in the lives of many students,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly humbling to understand that the University believes this collaboration to be worthy of this kind of recognition, and it only emboldens me to want to do more.鈥�
Since co-founding The Trade Desk in 2009, the 45-year-old billionaire has built one of the most leading-edge advertising technology companies in the world. With its corporate headquarters in Ventura, the company has also become a top recruiter for 海角社区CI alums.
鈥淲hat strikes me about these talented graduates is not only the core skills they develop in the classroom, but also their highly developed sense of curiosity,鈥� said Green. 鈥淚 believe this is key to success in technology and probably in most fields. It鈥檚 so important to be curious about how things work and why things are organized the way they are.鈥�
Green鈥檚 influence has impacted various initiatives across campus. His company employees participate in curriculum development and instruction for the digital advertising classes offered through 海角社区CI鈥檚 Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics. Over the years, the Trade Desk has developed a talent pipeline and has hired 27 alumni.聽
Green said 海角社区CI alumni have a strong work ethic and appreciation for success.
鈥淭hat sense of grit and drive is something I admire a great deal in people that we look to recruit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 forged early in life, and 海角社区 Channel Islands does a great job of helping [them] leverage it to be successful. We could not be more thrilled to bring that spirit into our company.鈥�
From left to right, President Richard Yao, Jeff Green, and 海角社区 Trustee Wenda Fong at the May 21 ceremony.
Green has also contributed to the 海角社区CI community through his family foundation. Since it launched in 2020, the foundation has made significant gifts and pledges exceeding $3 million in support of peer mentorship programs and scholarships.聽
Green said he鈥檚 been impressed by the impact of these programs on 海角社区CI students, as well as the University鈥檚 leadership for developing these programs. With years of experience running successful data-driven organizations, he has applied similar standards for measuring the progress of his philanthropic efforts at 海角社区CI. He plans to scale his efforts to other campuses in the California State University system.
鈥淣ot only have we seen significant improvements in terms of lowering drop-out rates, but we also get really positive feedback from embedded student peer mentors on what it means to them to play that role and how it is helping them in ways they had not anticipated,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this kind of success that allows us to grow these programs and think about how we can apply the same thinking in other areas.鈥�
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漏 Spring 2022 / Volume 27 / Number 1 / Biannual