How This Could Work
Every new institution begins the same way — not with a ribbon cutting, but with a conversation. The practical question: how do we get started, and what happens next?
We don’t have a complete answer. What we have is an honest sketch of how something like this typically comes together, and a proposed first step that anyone reading this could take today.
The Conversation
It starts with getting the right people in the same room. Not a planning process. Not a feasibility study. Direct conversations between people who have the standing to say yes to the next step.
The goal of Phase One is an honest assessment: Is there a site? Philanthropic appetite? Civic will? If yes, yes, yes — Phase Two begins.
A Structured Process
If Phase One generates genuine interest, a more formal process follows. New York City ran a competition for Cornell Tech. Oregon could do something similar. Convened by the State, City of Beaverton, and Portland Metro Council — with potentially Ralliant as co-convener — inviting proposals on:
A well-designed process doesn’t predetermine answers. It creates the conditions for the best answers to emerge.
Foundation and Funding
MARS University should be built on private philanthropy — because private funding at the right scale creates independence and speed that public processes cannot.
$1 billion philanthropic target. Grounded in reality: Cornell Tech’s first phase alone cost $889M — in NYC. Portland’s lower costs mean $1B goes further.
The donor base — the world’s most successful women in technology — is global, motivated, and largely untapped. Founding donors don’t just write checks. They shape the institution — culture, priorities, first faculty, founding research agenda.
Build and Launch
A campus of 20–30 acres, designed from the ground up for ML, AI, robotics, and space, is a substantial construction undertaking — and a significant economic event for the Portland Metro before a single class convenes.
Realistic timeline: 5–7 years. Cornell Tech moved from competition to open campus in 6 years in NYC. Portland can move at least as fast.
Where We Are Now
We are at the beginning of Phase One. No formal conversations have begun. No commitments have been made. No site has been secured.
Just an idea on the table.
The future starts here.