- Who is Esther Wojcicki? A legendary educator who taught at Palo Alto High School. Her students have included Steve Jobs’ daughter and Bill Hewlett’s grandson.
- Esther Wojcicki’s Husband: Esther was married to the late prominent Polish-American physicist Prof. Stanisław “Stanley” Wojcicki, former chair of the physics department at Stanford University.
- Esther Wojcicki’s Daughters: Susan, Anne, and Janet achieved immense professional success. Susan was the CEO of YouTube; Anne co-founded 23andMe, a genetic testing company valued at $6 billion at its peak; and Janet is a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of California.
- “Godmother of Silicon Valley”: A nickname given to Esther in Palo Alto and the title of a documentary about her, directed by Maciej Kawecki and Łukasz Bernaś.
- The Wojcicki Connection to Google: Google was born in Susan’s garage, while Anne was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, with whom she has two children.
In mid-September, Wojcicki flew to Poland to attend a friend’s wedding and used the opportunity to visit several locations, including the Science and Technology Park in Opole.
Prior to her brief presentation and Q&A session with the audience, attendees watched the documentary The Godmother of Silicon Valley, directed by Maciej Kawecki and Łukasz Bernaś.
The title stems from the nickname once bestowed upon Esther Wojcicki. The film chronicles her career as an inspiring Palo Alto teacher, highlights her connections to the founders of tech giants like Google, Apple, and Hewlett-Packard, and paints a portrait of one of the most influential Polish-American families in Silicon Valley.
The Power of the Wojcicki Family
Esther’s husband, Stanisław Wójcicki (known in the U.S. as Stanley Wojcicki), was born in Poland.
A brilliant physicist, he emigrated from the country as a child, arriving in the United States at age 13 alongside his brother Andrzej and mother Janina.
His father, Franciszek, a politician and leader in the Polish People's Party, remained in Poland. For years, the family flew back to visit him in the Polish Tri-City area.
In the U.S., Stanley Wojcicki became a professor and later the chair of the physics department at Stanford University - often referred to as a “Nobel factory.”
In their personal lives, Esther and Stanley raised three highly accomplished daughters:
- Susan - Former CEO of YouTube, who passed away in 2024 from lung cancer.
- Anne - Founder of 23andMe, the first company to receive authorization from the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to deliver direct-to-consumer genetic health risk information without a doctor's prescription. At its peak, the company reached a market capitalization of $6 billion.
- Janet - Professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
The Wojcicki family maintained close relationships with many Silicon Valley legends.
Google and Steve Jobs
To name just a few examples:
Google was founded in the garage of Susan’s house, and she eventually became the company’s 16th employee. Anne married Google co-founder Sergey Brin, with whom she has two children (the couple is now divorced).
Esther taught Steve Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. The Apple co-founder supported Wojcicki and her journalism program by providing state-of-the-art computers.
Under Esther’s guidance, Ben Hewlett - grandson of Hewlett-Packard co-founder Bill Hewlett - wrote an investigative article as a student that triggered resignations among Palo Alto school district officials.
The article was published in 1996 in The Campanile, the student newspaper published under Wojcicki's supervision and mentorship.
Movie Review: The Godmother of Silicon Valley
Anyone who casually reads the title of the film might assume it revolves around technology or high finance.
That is not the case at all.
The Godmother of Silicon Valley is a story about a woman, a mother, and a teacher.
Its central narrative follows the development of young minds guided by Wojcicki's philosophy, encapsulated in the acronym TRICK: Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness.
A key focus is her students' work on a high school paper that initially had a dozen contributors and grew into a massive educational media program involving hundreds of students producing multiple publications.
In this environment, young people take charge: they decide on editorial roles, choose topics, and publish articles. They are surrounded by support aimed at building self-esteem and a sense of agency - traits essential for their future paths.
Szubartowski and Wojcicki
Metaphorically speaking, the film echoes themes from Maciej Kawecki's previous production, The Master, which focused on Ryszard Szubartowski - the Polish teacher at High School No. 3 in Gdynia who mentored future OpenAI stars.
The film explores:
- A mentor's profound impact on students' lives (“Did Esther change your life?”);
- Fighting the system (yes, it happens in the U.S. too - to both teachers and students);
- Exceptional individuals who are understood early on only by open-minded educators (featuring prominent actor James Franco, a former student of Esther, in this “role”).
Or perhaps these are not just Kawecki's signature themes, but universal challenges faced by youth and teachers whether in Gdynia or Palo Alto.
Naturally, unlike The Master, the film places a stronger emphasis on raising her own children. It is not insignificant that they happen to be daughters.
In the background are Silicon Valley legends, Poland, and the personal family histories of Esther and Stanley.
The documentary delivers poignant moments - navigating the grief of losing her husband, grandson, and daughter within a short span - alongside lighter humor (such as a bench made from classic vintage computers).
It is a film worth watching and drawing personal lessons from, especially for anyone who interacts with young people in a personal or professional capacity.
Esther Wojcicki and AI
What about Esther Wojcicki off-screen?
During the public Q&A session, her perspective on AI in education caught many off guard.
“I know this is an unpopular opinion for some, but I actually like the idea of using AI in schools. Artificial intelligence can be a massive help in learning, provided you assign it the right role. If you let it do your assignment for you, you forfeit the opportunity to learn. But if you use it to verify, check, and refine your work, you can learn an immense amount,” Wojcicki emphasized.
In her view, countries banning smartphones or social media in schools are making a mistake.
“They tried doing that in Australia, and it failed. Kids will always find a way around a ban - they'll hack the system. Banning isn't the solution; education is. Look at Prohibition in the United States during the 1920s. Did that fix alcohol consumption?” the educator remarked.
Given her daughters' extraordinary professional success, it was no surprise that attendees in Opole asked her for parenting advice.
“Always stand behind them and offer support. Do everything you can to help them do well in school, but don't punish them if they fall short. Give them room to improve and take responsibility,” she noted.
People Matter More Than Ideas
She also lightheartedly recalled her initial reactions to some of her daughters' choices:
“It's not like I was always thrilled right away. When Susan said she wanted to go to Harvard, I thought, ‘Oh no!’ I didn't think she'd get in, and besides, Harvard is incredibly expensive. I urged her to go to UC Berkeley because it was much cheaper. I even tried to bribe her,” Wojcicki laughed. “I told her, ‘If you go to Berkeley, I'll buy you a car.’ But she chose Harvard, got accepted, and graduated.”
“Janet? She was so intellectually independent, yet she wanted to go to medical school. I thought, ‘That is completely wrong for you; you can't really experiment there, you have to follow strict protocols.’ I was worried someone would end up suing her. But I couldn't just say that to her. Fortunately, she realized it herself after a while, started 23andMe, and triggered a revolution in genetics. I am so proud of her,” Wojcicki continued.
Despite being over 85 years old, the “Godmother of Silicon Valley” actively invests in startups, particularly in health tech and AI.
She offered one primary piece of advice to founders:
“How you treat people is more important than your idea. 90 percent of startups fail not because they have a bad idea, but because the founders can't get along. They lack human interaction skills.”
Poland Over the US
Wojcicki was also asked about her thoughts on Poland.
“Poland is at a dynamic, revolutionary stage right now. I think math education here is at a very high level - my husband Stanley, who was a physicist, would have certainly loved that,” she observed.
She noted that the current climate in Poland feels far better than in the U.S., where she resides.
“Things are terrible there right now. Reading about all these political conflicts and President Trump's behavior can truly make you depressed,” Wojcicki commented.
When asked about the key skills for the future, she replied:
“First, you have to believe in yourself. In the U.S., Tony Robbins is very popular for teaching that - people pay thousands of dollars for a few days with him just to learn self-belief. Second, leveraging technology is essential. The future belongs to tech.”
