After seven years as President and CEO—and more than fifteen years at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund—Cathy Cha announced her departure in early 2026. During her tenure, she helped make California one of the most pro-immigrant states in the country, launched the California Black Freedom Fund, and strengthened civic engagement efforts that connect more people to our democracy. Her leadership advanced the Fund’s commitment to equality and justice in the Bay Area and beyond.

We partnered with the Bay Area Economic Council and the San Francisco Foundation to examine how federal immigration enforcement is reshaping economic behavior across the nine-county Bay Area and affecting workforce participation, key industries, and overall economic output. The report highlights how fear, uncertainty, and the potential for mass enforcement actions influence business decisions and regional economic resilience.

The Board of Directors announces the Fund will sunset its current grantmaking programs in 2028 after 75 years of partnership and over $780 million in grantmaking in the Bay Area and beyond. The Haas, Jr. Fund pledged support to key programs in Democracy, Immigrant Rights, and College Success for the 2027 and 2028 calendar years.

In 2028, the Fund also committed to providing significant, long-term grants to three Bay Area community partners that are longtime priorities for the family: the Season of Sharing Fund, Crissy Field, and the Haas Pavilion at UC Berkeley.

The Fund’s remaining assets will then be divided among the three branches of the family so that each can pursue their philanthropic goals and interests. 

A new report calls on California’s higher education systems to embrace hybrid learning as a pathway to enabling more students to reach their goals for college and career. By combining flexible online learning with structured human connection and student support, the best hybrid learning models redesign higher education with a focus on student success.

Founded in 2026, the California Democracy Partnership unites a growing network of funders and organizations around a shared agenda to establish California as a model of inclusive, multiracial democracy.