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We are looking ahead to the future, ever dedicated to finding ways the Fund can make a unique contribution to this very special place in which we live.

Evelyn D. Haas

$695 million in grants,
71 years of change­making

Explore our digital timeline to learn more about the Fund’s work and to find out about the heroic accomplishments of the leaders and organizations we have the privilege of supporting.

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2022

2022

Winding Down Our LGBT Program

Photo by Getty Images

After 21 years and over $105 million in investments, the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund announced that we will be winding down our LGBT equality program over the next two years.

While letting go of a grantmaking program is always difficult, we couldn’t be prouder of the transformational work of our LGBT movement partners. Over the past two decades, they have delivered tremendous gains for the LGBT community and advanced our nation’s core values. That said, we know that the struggle to secure full equality for LGBT people is not over. Far from it. We are committed to providing two years of transitional support to our current LGBT grantees so they can continue their important work and plan for the future.

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2020

June 15
2020

Historic Win for LGBT Workers

Two rainbow flags fly across the Supreme Court of the United States of America

In a decisive 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court rules on June 15 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must be interpreted to protect gay and transgender workers from employment discrimination. Before the ruling, nearly 30 states did not provide these basic civil rights protections, and workers could be fired or discriminated against simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In a letter celebrating the historic win, Haas, Jr. Fund Senior Program Director Matt Foreman thanks several longtime Fund grantees who led the legal fight for nationwide protections. He also notes that the ruling is not enough, highlighting the lack of nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people in areas such as housing, retail and restaurant service, and adoption. “Let’s pledge to each other in this moment to work for bigger, bolder change so that all people can live and thrive as who they are,” Foreman writes.

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2019

March
2019

San Francisco is Open To All

"Open to All" sign in window Photo by Movement Advancement Project

In response to the Supreme Court case concerning a Colorado baker who refused to sell a gay couple a wedding cake the Movement Advancement Project started a campaign to make businesses more welcoming of all people.  In March San Francisco was officially declared the first "Open to All" city.

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2018

September
2018

Philanthropy’s LGBTQ workforce in focus

Photo by Jamie Thrower

A survey supported by the Haas, Jr. Fund indicates that the majority of LGBTQ people working at participating foundations are “in the closet” at work, meaning they have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity to all or most of their coworkers. The first-of-its-kind survey marks an effort to make demographic data on the philanthropic workforce more accessible and to promote more transparency about the experiences and perspectives of LGBTQ workers in the field.

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June
2018

An inconclusive Supreme Court ruling on gay rights

Photo by Jamie Thrower

The Supreme Court rules in favor of a Colorado baker who said he would not create a wedding cake for a gay couple. But the decision is narrowly focused on the specifics of this one case, prompting Haas, Jr. Fund Senior Program Director Matt Foreman to observe that it’s time for Congress to act to end anti-LGBT discrimination.  

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2017

October
2017

Judge blocks ban on transgender military service

Transgender Military Rally Photo by Ted Eytan

A federal judge rules that transgender people can continue to serve in the U.S. military, despite a proposed White House ban on their service. The proposed White House ban, first announced by the President in July, is a reminder that workplace discrimination is still a very real threat to equality and opportunity for LGBT people across the nation. 

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April
2017

Philanthropy’s role in a challenging time

Stormy White House Photo by Amanjeev

The 100-day mark of the Trump administration is a time of reflection for philanthropy and its partners in the work of advancing rights and creating opportunities for immigrants, LGBT people, and other communities. Haas, Jr. Fund Vice President of Programs Cathy Cha joins the dialogue with three colleagues in an article for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The article follows up on a presentation the group made at a Northern California Grantmakers debate.  

2015

November 2
2015

Lessons from the marriage win

The Haas, Jr. Fund and other funders that supported the state-by-state strategy to win marriage equality share the untold, behind-the-scenes story of what happened. A case study and video from the participants in the Civil Marriage Collaborative offer lessons for other social justice causes.  

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June 26
2015

Love wins, once and for all

Photo by Charlotte Fiorito

The Supreme Court legalizes marriage equality—the result of hard work by movement organizations and millions of people who changed hearts and minds. The Fund has invested $39 million in this historic work since 2001.

2013

June
2013

A huge step forward for marriage equality

Photo by ACLU ©

As a result of efforts by Fund grantees including (add links) Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights, The LGBT Project of the ACLU, the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA, opening the door for gay married couples to secure equal rights under federal law.

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2010

2010

Read all about it

Front page of Seattle Gay News Photo by Trine ©

The Fund organizes the first national convening of LGBT newspaper editors and bloggers in New York.

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2009

March
2009

Let California Ring

Women prepare for wedding

The Fund makes its first grant to support marriage equality in its home state of California. The grant supports Let California Ring, the largest-ever public education effort on the issue.

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2007

2007

Promoting Full Equality, State by State

Family in front of home

The Haas, Jr. Fund helps create the State Equality Fund, which supports non-lobbying educational work to promote full equality for gays and lesbians, including safer schools, nondiscrimination protections and civil unions.

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2004

November
2004

Losing forward

Photo by Chris Walton

Anti-marriage measures pass in 11 states by huge margins. Funders and movement leaders begin collaborating to plot a course for changing hearts and minds and for winning marriage equality in a critical number of states.

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February
2004

The marriage issue heats up

Photo by LIZ MANGELSDORF

Following Massachusetts’ decision to allow same-sex marriages in that state, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom opens up City Hall for same-sex couples to marry. The television images go global and stir a national conversation about marriage.

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2001

1998

1996

September
1996

The government enacts DOMA

Photo by Ron Sachs/CNP

President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which restricts federal marriage benefits to opposite-sex couples, denying gay couples thousands of rights and protections that come with marriage.

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