Perspectives | Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund

Ira Hirschfield, Walter J. Haas, Betsy Haas Eisenhardt, and Robert D. Haas at Crissy Field

Reflecting on Ira Hirschfield’s Leadership

January 14, 2016 | by

The Fund’s Trustees describe our departing President’s passion for philanthropy and for “lifting aspirations.

In a letter to the Fund’s partners and colleagues, Trustees Walter J. Haas, Robert D. Haas and Betsy Haas Eisenhardt offer their perspectives on Ira Hirschfield’s “visionary and highly effective” leadership. Ira “has dared so many of us to dream,” they write.

Ira Hirschfield will be stepping down in December 2016 as President and Trustee of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund after 28 years of visionary and highly effective leadership. Ira has been a constant source of…

Marriage Equality from Coast to Coast

December 15, 2015 | by

in

Winter 2015 Letter from the President

President Ira Hirschfield reflects on how marriage equality is a fitting reminder of what it takes to achieve real and lasting progress in advancing rights and creating opportunities for all people.

The past year will go down in the history books as a year when fairness and justice prevailed for gays and lesbians across the country. It was a year when a movement of hundreds of thousands of people across the cou…

What Does It Take to Create a “Culture of Philanthropy”?

September 23, 2015 | by

in

We asked the question, and here’s what we heard

Nonprofit and philanthropic leaders strive to unpack what it really means to change the way we think about—and do—fundraising.

In June, this blog raised the issue of whether social sector organizations needed to move from fundraising to developing a culture of philanthropy. We wanted to know what people on the ground thought about this appr…

What’s Changed About the American Dream Today

September 8, 2015 | by

in

On the new immigration climate and what immigrant communities can do

Program Director Cathy Cha reflects on the importance of creating more avenues for civic participation—and collaboration.

This piece was originally published by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, here. Why are you passionate about advocating for AAPI communities? As the daughter of Korean immigrants, I’ve witnes…

Day of Supreme Court gay marriage ruling in Castro

Where Immigrant and LGBT Rights Meet

August 17, 2015 | by

in

Reflections on two overlapping social movements

Senior Director Matt Foreman shares lessons, challenges and opportunities at the intersection of two social justice movements.

This blog was originally published on the GCIR website, here. Tell us about how immigrant and refugee issues fit into the mission of your foundation. Our immigration work is rooted in our founders’ respect…

john a. powell

By

in

Director, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society

john powell on consciousness, living beyond the cognitive space and bringing love into the public discourse.

What did you eat for breakfast this morning? Tea Where are you from? Detroit Who are your heroes? My mother, my father, and Nelson Mandela. What would be a perfect day for you? I like a mix of quiet and int…

Meng So

In

Director, Undocumented Student Program at U.C. Berkeley

Meng So works with undocumented students at Cal. He talks about the role of love in his work, the need for authentic voices in social movements, and his (unfulfilled) NBA dreams.

Where are you from? I was born along the Thailand/Cambodia border in a refugee camp and migrated to the Bay Area with my family and parents when I was two. Where do you call home? Home is my family. It’s a feelin…

Evan Wolfson

In

Founder, Freedom to Marry

Before he leaves on a “post-victory vacation,” Evan Wolfson shares some of the inspiration that sustained the fight for marriage equality. And what he wants on his tombstone.

Where do you call home? NYC Who are your heroes? Abraham Lincoln. Franklin Roosevelt. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dan Foley, my non-gay Hawaii co-counsel. Maurice Tempelsman (the man who won the heart of Jackie Kenne…

Every Voice Shines New Light

Perspectives Search Filters