Every Voice Shines New Light

The value of an idea increases exponentially when it’s shared. From our staff, partners and grantees to the people impacted by their efforts, each perspective offers new insight into the critical issues at the heart of our work.

Our Contributors

Sepi Aghdaee

Sepi supports the Fund’s grantmaking across programs and issues, including longtime community partnerships in the Bay Area.
Rachel Baker

Rachel works to strengthen the field of leadership development for social change.
Cathy Cha

Cathy leads the Fund’s work to advance rights and create opportunities for all people.
Denis Chicola

Denis works to ensure that communications are at the core of the Fund’s efforts to advance rights and create opportunities.
Holly Delany Cole

Holly directs the Fund’s flagship leadership investment program, which helps grantees to build the leadership they need to reach their goals.
Matt Foreman

Matt oversees the Fund’s extensive support for the drive for equal rights and opportunities for LGBT people.
Victor Garcia
Walter J. Haas

In his leadership of the Haas, Jr. Fund, Walter J. Haas is guided by a commitment to serving the community and to creating opportunities for all people to succeed.
Ira Hirschfield

Ira oversees the Fund’s investments and leads its work on selected community partnerships.
Jennifer Kirschenbaum
Paula Morris

Paula has worked with the Fund’s Flexible Leadership Awards program since its inception in 2005, and was its program director until January 2015.
Beth Rayfield

Beth Rayfield is the director of institutional advancement at the Center for Community Change (CCC) and former development director at CHIRLA.
Robert Ross
Jennie Lehua Watson

Jennie leads the Fund’s work to advance rights and create opportunities for all people.
Evan Wolfson

Evan is the founder and President of Freedom to Marry, a longtime Fund partner and key player in the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide.
Linda Wood

Linda leads the Fund’s work to strengthen leaders, organizations and movements that are advancing social change.
Sylvia Yee

Sylvia served as the Fund’s Vice President of Programs

Six Questions About the Flexible Leadership Awards Program

November 4, 2011 | by

Paula Morris describes how the FLA works, and the impact it can have

Read about what the FLA is, and how it helped NCLR manage the twin challenges of organizational growth and movement leadership.

Paula Morris is the former program director of the Haas, Jr. Fund's Flexible Leadership Awards program. She worked as a Plan Consultant with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and a number of the Fund's o…

Daring to DREAM

October 9, 2011 | by

Fall 2011 Letter from the President

Tens of thousands of undocumented students across California know the U.S. as home. Learn about the huge gains Dreamers have made, and the daily struggles many still face.

When Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 131 on October 8, 2011 he cleared the way for undocumented students who graduate from California high schools (and who demonstrate both merit and financial need) to app…

Angel

Coming out, twice

After overcoming the challenges of coming out as gay and coming out as undocumented, Angel is looking to create a career out of helping others.

Angel was 12 when his mother hired a coyote to bring the family across the Mexico-U.S. border in 1999. They settled in Florida and planned to stay only briefly—to work, save, and then go back to Mexico for a better…

Gabriela

Finding her inner drive, UC Berkeley Dreamer rises to the top

An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador excels at school, and becomes a voice for advancing the cause of Dreamers.

Gabriela is a third-year student at UC Berkeley who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at age 15. After arriving in the United States, she lived with her father and his girlfriend near Los Angeles whil…

Q & A with Dave Eggers

April 21, 2011

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author helped guide the Fund's first-person stories series

Voice of Witness uses oral history to empower those most closely affected by contemporary social injustice. Founder Dave Eggers spoke with us about the power of stories for change.

Voice of Witness is a nonprofit that empowers those most closely affected by contemporary social injustice. Using oral history as a foundation, they record narratives that depict human rights crises around the world…

Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa

From field worker to brain surgeon

Alfredo Quiñones came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant when he was 19 years old. Today, “Dr. Q” is a neurosurgeon, performing more than 250 brain surgeries a year.

Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa is a neurosurgeon and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Known as “Dr. Q.” by his students and friends, Alfredo performs more tha…

Voices from the Field

Hear insights, challenges and breakthroughs from our grantees’ inspiring work.

See all Stories

Cynthia Buiza

Executive Director, California Immigrant Policy Center

Recognizing trailblazing Asian American women who are leading and influencing social justice movements in California.

Read this Story

First Person Stories

See the issues at the heart of our work through the eyes of those most closely affected.

See all Stories

Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn

Future (undocumented) doctor

New once kept his undocumented status a secret from everyone outside his family. Today, he is proudly the first undocumented medical student at UCSF.

Read this Story

Cynthia Buiza

Executive Director, California Immigrant Policy Center

A Park For All

An Immigrant’s Perspective on Crissy Field

Lessons from California

Successes of California's Grass-Roots Activists Offer Lessons for All Grant Makers

Statement on Family Separation and Detention

Philanthropy Responds to Inhumane Family Separation and Detention Policies.

Cristina Jiménez

Advancing the Dream of Dignity for All Immigrants

Every Voice Shines New Light

Our Contributors