Recognizing and investing in the nonprofit leadership that serves our communities

The Haas, Jr. Fund works to strengthen the leadership of nonprofit organizations, with the aim of helping nonprofits pursue their goals for social change. Rather than concentrating on individual leaders, we focus on the leadership team—board, executive director and senior staff—and on the ways in which these leaders work with the organization as a whole.

The Fund is now working by invitation with a few well-established local and national nonprofits whose efforts are crucial to our mission, piloting a Flexible Leadership Awards program to help each organization strengthen its leadership. We are also pursuing a longer-term goal of creating more and better resources for building nonprofit leadership in the Bay Area. We are interested in helping the fledgling field of nonprofit leadership development grow in knowledge and ability, and we look forward to learning from our grantees and other partners.

Recognizing and investing in leaders has been an abiding value of the Haas, Jr. Fund. We believe that the vitality and well-being of communities in the Bay Area and elsewhere depends fundamentally on building strong nonprofit leadership for the long term.

Over the past five years (2003-07), the Fund has made grants totaling nearly $6.3 million in this program area. (see chart)