The Philanthropist
But what is it that so motivates Oki to think about the “little guy?” Why not simply take his hard-earned millions and travel the world, buy expensive personal items and enjoy a lifestyle many imagine, but few can afford?
“Honestly, part of it was guilt,” he says. “Guilt over having more wealth than I rightly deserved. I mean, I worked hard, and it’s the American dream to work hard, make a lot of money and live in a nice house with a nice car in the garage. But why be happy when that is said and done?
“I grew up in a family that, really, had nothing,” he continues. “But with a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice by my parents and many others, I was able to get a great education and get the kind of experience that now, as an adult, I realize helped make me into the person that I am. I’m grateful for the helping hands I had in life and truly feel that it’s only fair that I help return some of that.”
Thus it is that “retirement” has found Oki working harder than ever — not only to create opportunities for public golfers in the Northwest, which he says these days occupies “maybe one percent of my time,” but to create opportunities for young people — particularly minorities and those in inner-city or at-risk areas.
One of Oki’s primary focuses is revamping the public education system, which he says is “deeply
flawed” and will require the joint efforts of numerous interested parties to fix.
“It’s a giant problem,” he says, “involving everything from how we use technology, to how we educate and reward teachers, to how we allow — or don’t allow — parents to choose what schools their children attend. We can choose to go to any restaurant, any gas station, any bank, any dry cleaner … we have complete freedom of choice in this country, except for when it comes to the most important thing of all — how we educate our children.”
“I remember at age 10 picking strawberries in the summer with my grandmother. It was backbreaking work, but it taught me what hard work was all about.”
Oki says that the core of the problem is not a lack of attention to the traditional three R’s — reading, writing and arithmetic — but rather a lack of focus on developing those traits which he considers essential in having shaped the course of his life — character, values and moral and personal integrity.
“I think many parents have abdicated responsibility for raising kids onto the system — whether that’s the child care system, the education system, or another system. We, as parents, are becoming less engaged in how we raise our kids, and that’s too bad.”
Oki has begun writing his ideas down in what he calls his “Education Manifesto,” and has begun rallying public and private leaders to “agree on a common definition of the problem.” While he has devoted significant fiscal and temporal resources to the problem, Oki insists that he doesn’t see himself as some kind of white knight riding in to save the day.
“I’m not a Don Quixote — I’m not out chasing windmills,” he says. “I simply look for things at which I think I could make a tangible difference, be it at Microsoft, in golf, or in the non-profit sector. And when I see someplace where I think I could have an impact, it’s hard for me not to get involved.”