The Massiah® Foundation’s founder and president, Fariborz Maseeh is at heart both a scientist and an entrepreneur. His undergraduate and graduate studies in the fields of mechanical engineering and applied mathematics inspired him to pursue the field of micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS). In 1991 he founded IntelliSense with the vision to reduce the time and expense of creating next-generation MEMS devices that had broad industrial and humanitarian applications—from airplane landing gear to pace makers. As his company grew, so did his desire to give back to the community. Ever grateful to his inspiring teachers and educational institutions that nurtured his skills and dreams, his philanthropy is inclined towards education, youth, scientific innovation, healthcare and culture.

Mr. Maseeh founded the Massiah Foundation in 2000 on the concept of venture philanthropy. This means that the Massiah Foundation targets unique opportunities to invest in entities that will have a lasting and broad impact. It also seeks to leverage its resources to attract co-investors from the community so that the goals of impact and longevity will be realized.

The Massiah Foundation mirrors Mr. Maseeh’s entrepreneurial spirit as he applies management principles to improve the value of the Foundation’s social investments. It also applies his solution-based approach toward innovation and finding unique opportunities to serve and unite people and their communities.

Innovative Investments

The Massiah® Foundation seeks opportunities with the intent to create what did not exist. One of our Innovative examples is the creation of The Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies at University of California at Irvine (UCI). The Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies is the first independent campus center in the United States for Persian Studies and Culture.

Transformational Investments

The Massiah Foundation invests in opportunities that will have a transformational result through leverage with others. For instance, the Massiah Foundation awarded a transformational contribution to Portland State University to empower the creation of the new Northwest Center for Engineering facility together with the creation of a number of faculty endowments and student scholarships.

Charitable Investments

The Massiah Foundation makes contributions to causes that are traditionally ignored by the mainstream. One such recurring contribution is the Massiah Foundation’s continued scholarship support of low income high school graduates who continue onto college. Over the years we have supported almost 300 scholarships, some anonymously.