Updated Feb. 26, 2014 7:30 p.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO—More than a decade ago, James Higa was one of Steve Jobs's trusted advisers at Apple Inc., AAPL -0.90% Apple Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq $517.35 -4.71 -0.90% Feb. 26, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 9.80M AFTER HOURS $516.14 -1.21 -0.23% Feb. 26, 2014 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 78,096 P/E Ratio 12.75 Market Cap $465.67 Billion Dividend Yield 2.36% Rev. per Employee $2,163,820 02/26/14 After Apple, Tackling Poverty 02/26/14 Cyberattacks Can Now Turn Your... 02/26/14 Apple Asks Appeals Court to To... More quote details and news » helping lead thorny negotiations with music record labels and ultimately paving the way for the iTunes store.
Today, he faces an arguably more difficult challenge.
On the first floor of a sun-drenched, airy room that could easily pass for one of the city's many startup pads, Mr. Higa is tackling the Bay Area's socioeconomic problems. He is one of the first residents of the just-launched Invention Hub, an incubator for local jobs that is designed to bring together tech companies, nonprofits and San Francisco's underprivileged.
The former Apple executive is among a growing group of techies seeking to bridge a widening income gap in San Francisco, riddled by rising home prices and persistent poverty.
In recent months, business leaders have started to speak out. At a technology awards show, startup investor Ron Conway, sometimes described as the "godfather of Silicon Valley," implored the audience to donate more time and money and to work closely with schools and nonprofits. He also encouraged entrepreneurs to rally behind sf.citi, his political advocacy group for the tech community.
Next week, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is co-hosting a brainstorming session, alongside local enterprise-software company Zendesk, to discuss the revitalization of the city and reveal a new mobile app called Link-SF, designed to connect the homeless with "lifesaving services."
But as Silicon Valley's wealth balloons—punctuated last week by Facebook Inc. FB -0.84% Facebook Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $69.26 -0.59 -0.84% Feb. 26, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 54.98M AFTER HOURS $69.31 +0.05 +0.07% Feb. 26, 2014 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 420,082 P/E Ratio 113.54 Market Cap $178.10 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $1,242,230 02/25/14 Secret Apps: Your Secrets Aren... 02/25/14 The Morning Download: Why Face... 02/24/14 Facebook WhatsApp Messaging Se... More quote details and news » 's $19 billion acquisition of 55-person startup WhatsApp—many citizens here are wondering why techies aren't doing more.
Mr. Higa, who comes from the "land of plenty" after spending years at Apple's 1 Infinite Loop, says he is asking the same. "We try to aspire to change the world but if we can't even change our backyards, how can we aspire to change the world?" he said.
Mr. Higa, who is typically reserved—a reflection of Apple's discreet culture—split his time between Indiana and Japan growing up. After graduating from Stanford University, he became a photographer and met Mr. Jobs in 1984, during a photo assignment for Apple. Mr. Jobs, then 29, hired him immediately, placing him in the original Mac Group, as part of the marketing team. Most of his career would closely track Mr. Jobs, from Apple to NeXT Computer and back to Apple, where he stayed until the summer of 2012, about eight months after Mr. Jobs's passing.
Since leaving Apple, Mr. Higa has continued to advise tech startups as a mentor-in-residence at Index Ventures, but now devotes the bulk of his time to philanthropy. In large part, he was inspired by what he sees as the ever-widening income gap in San Francisco.
He is the executive director of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, a nonprofit group that gives small grants to local causes, amounting to roughly $12 million a year. Mr. Higa also spends much of his time leaning on his connections in tech and philanthropy to push for greater collaboration between the disparate parts of the Bay Area community.
The new office is a testament to that. The Invention Hub—which officially opened on Tuesday in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood next to a new luxury apartment complex—is a collaborative workspace led by Not for Sale, a human trafficking nonprofit, and its sister company, Just Business, which invests and incubates for-profit companies with a social-good component.
The 7,000-square-foot building will also have space for Mr. Higa's nonprofit group PVF, a backer of Not For Sale, and a six-month training program that will teach job skills to local victims of human trafficking. The current class will learn how to become baristas from coffee company Amor Perfecto (a Just Business company), and learn skills necessary for internships at companies. Juniper, Salesforce.com and Blue Bottle have agreed to provide internships to some graduates of the program.
As a founding partner of the Invention Hub, Mr. Higa will continue to help establish jobs connections in the industry and organize regular brainstorming sessions with the tech community to take on other issues, such as rising evictions, said David Batstone, a co-founder of Not for Sale. Mr. Higa is particularly focused on spreading the word to mid-to-large-sized startups, those with 50 or more employees, that will need nontechnical help, such as those delivering goods and services across the Bay Area.
The hope is that the combination of these elements will create new jobs and begin to change how tech companies operate within their neighborhoods.
It is a unique setup, but more nonprofits in the city are trying to adopt Silicon Valley's practices. Just a few miles north, Tipping Point, another local philanthropy, has created its own incubator, called the T Lab, where it brings in professionals, including engineers and designers, to tackle specific social problems.
Not everyone, however, is convinced such actions will create a big enough dent here. Carlos Rivera, a communications coordinator for the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, a labor union, says job programs will help some, but he wants to see bigger sacrifices from tech, such as donating the money they get from tax breaks. "It's a step in the right direction but not enough," he said.
Mr. Higa is unfazed by the criticism.
He says he's reminded of his projects at Apple, most of which started very small before becoming billion dollar businesses. The initial iTunes group, for example, started as five people.
"My work has always been about finding the Northwest Passage," said Mr. Higa, referring to a historical sea route that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. "But when you can find a way, then the railroads come in, the city comes in, and then you're on to the next wilderness."
Write to Evelyn M. Rusli at evelyn.rusli@wsj.com
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