The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was founded in 1975 following the untimely death of Tektronix co-founder, Melvin J. “Jack” Murdock. Murdock’s initial estate of $80 million has now grown to over $2 billion and generated more than $1 billion in capacity building investment for the region. Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Trust since 2006, recently announced his retirement in 2022.
During his time as executive director of the foundation, Moore appreciated that the Murdock Trust focused its funding on particular sectors: Human Services, Arts & Culture, Science, Education, and Health. He noted that the Murdock Trust always tried to connect the people working within sectors and connect people to individuals in other sectors.
This is one reason Moore enjoys attending Founder’s Day, a celebration held on the last Friday of June when grantees from the past year gather to celebrate and connect.
Moore recalled the last Founder’s Day in 2019 before the pandemic, remembering how a director of a literary arts nonprofit met someone from a food bank in Idaho alongside someone else from a historical museum in Washington. Connections like these are what Moore appreciates about the Murdock Trust.
