TECH LEADERS LAUNCH FWD.US TO PROMOTE POLICIES TO KEEP U.S.

COMPETITIVE
Bipartisan effort will organize the tech community behind issues like comprehensive immigration reform WASHINGTON, DC Leading innovators, job creators, business owners and founders from Silicon Valleys tech sector, one of the brightest spots in Americas economy, announced the creation of a group organizing the broader tech community to advocate for a bipartisan policy agenda to build the U.S. knowledge economy. The groups policy agenda, which includes comprehensive immigration reform, education reform and support for scientific research, will ensure more jobs, innovation and investment, now and in the future. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founders of FWD.us, wrote about the motivation for the group in a Washington Post op-ed today: Today's economy, however, is based primarily on knowledge and ideas resources that are renewable In a knowledge economy, the most important resources are talented people. A knowledge economy can scale further, create better jobs and provide a higher quality of living for everyone in our nation. To lead the world in this new economy, our workforce needs the most talented and hardest-working people. We need to train and attract the best. FWD.us believes the global economy is changing and America must make significant changes to stay ahead. Core to this agenda are the following policies: Comprehensive immigration reform that allows for the hiring of the best and brightest. Education reforms that produce more graduates in the science, technology and math fields and ensure all children receive a high quality education from effective teachers and accountable schools. Support for scientific research, which seeds the future innovation of our knowledge economy, and breakthrough developments.

FWD.us will harness the best of new and established advocacy tools to secure passage of its policy agenda. The organization plans to utilize online social organizing, which many of its founders pioneered, to build a movement in the tech community, while engaging in direct advocacy at the state and district level to advance this agenda in Washington, D.C. Organizers believe the fight to advance policies that will strengthen the U.S. knowledge economy will be won at the state, in-district level using tools (including polling, earned media and advertising) to demonstrate to elected officials that their constituents support advancing these important policy changes. FWD.us is backed by a diverse group of leading innovators, job creators, business owners and founders from Silicon Valleys tech sector. Founders include Aditya Agarwal, Jim Breyer, Matt Cohler, Ron Conway, John Doerr, Joe Green, Reid Hoffman, Drew Houston, Chamath Palihapitiya, Ruchi Sanghvi and Mark Zuckerberg Major contributors include Brian Chesky, Chris Cox, Paul Graham, Reed Hastings, Chad Hurley, Josh James, Max Levchin, Joe Lonsdale, Andrew Mason, Marissa Mayer, Mary Meeker, Dave Morin, Elon Musk, Hadi Partovi, Alison Pincus, Mark Pincus, Keith Rabois, Hosain Rahman, David Sacks, Eric Schmidt, Kevin Systrom, Padmasree Warrior, and Fred Wilson. Joe Green (co-founder of Causes and NationBuilder), based in Silicon Valley, is Founder and President of FWD.us, and is focused on organizing and engaging the tech community, online advocacy, policy and fundraising. Rob Jesmer (former Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee), based in Washington DC, is the organizations campaign manager, focused on political operations. Robs team includes a bipartisan group of political veterans, including Kate Hansen (former Communications Director of the Democratic Governors Association) as communications director, Alida Garcia (former Latino Vote Deputy Director of Obama 2012 campaign) as director of coalitions and policy, and Scott Sloofman, former RNC Deputy War Room Director, as research director. "People in tech have often felt a cultural disconnect from the political

process, which is a shame considering we are naturally idealistic; you often hear tech founders talk about their motivation to create companies and products is to change the world. Our goal with FWD.us is to organize and engage the tech community in the issues where we can contribute to the national debate, on issues of vital importance to Americas ability to compete in the global knowledge economy. We view this as one of the key challenges to improving our countrys economic future ensuring that we have as many people as possible in the workforce who have the skills to participate in the knowledge economy and that further our economic growth, said FWD.us President and founder Joe Green. For more information or to join the effort, go to FWD.us.