TI has made large contributions to LGBT causes and contributed to the community’s cultural growth
CORPORATE ALLY | Texas Instruments has been a longtime LGBT ally, and the company recently named Andy Smith to executive director of Texas Instruments Foundation.
Andy Smith, a Texas Instruments employee for 17 years, will take on a new position with the company. He’s currently the director of corporate philanthropy at TI, and on April 15 he’ll assume the role of executive director of Texas Instruments Foundation.
Smith said that the focus of the foundation and corporate giving are slightly different. The foundation, which made $12 million in grants last year, works on improving the quality of math and science teachers, supporting the arts and culture in
Dallas and meeting critical community needs. One of the ways it meets those needs is through its United Way donations.
Another is through individual contributions to organizations like Genesis Women’s Shelter.
He said on the corporate side, the diversity initiatives give to a wide variety of community organizations. The TI Pride Network has donated to Youth First, Uptown Players and a variety of HIV/AIDS organizations.
When Congregation Beth El Binah worked with the Dallas Holocaust Museum to bring an exhibit on the treatment of gays during the Holocaust to Dallas, Smith worked with TI’s LGBT, Jewish and Christian groups to help fund and set up the exhibit.
Smith is married to Paul von Wupperfeld, who also works for TI. Both have been LGBT activists since 1990 and have been together 23 years. They had a church wedding in 1997 in Austin and civil weddings in Canada in 2004 and California in 2013.
“It really shows that the company is living by the ideals we espouse,” von Wupperfeld said about his husband’s appointment. “It makes me very proud that somebody who is as out and open as Andy, who has a husband who is out and open, can achieve a position like this. The experiences we have had have helped both of us to empathize with people, but it has really helped Andy in his work in this position. He genuinely cares about people.”
Smith joined TI in 1997, where his roles have included media relations and marketing communications. Prior to joining the company, he worked in Austin as public relations/development director for several nonprofit organizations.
“Andy has done so much to assist and improve many organizations, and has provided leadership as on openly gay man,” Resource Center CEO Cece Cox said. “As a Texas Instruments employee, he worked with others to create an inclusive workplace for LGBT employees. He has educated others regarding LGBT cultural competency as a board member at United Way, and has contributed time and financial resources to various HIV/AIDS organizations. I congratulate him on his new position and wish him many more years of strong leadership.”
Smith begins serving in his new position as the TI Foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 14, 2014.
