Northern California Grantmakers

Northern California Grantmakers would like to take a moment to recognize the remarkable life and contributions of Evelyn Haas who passed away Wednesday here in San Francisco.

”Evelyn Haas, philanthropist, patron of the arts, matriarch of one of the Bay Area’s most prominent families…[and] widow of Walter A. Haas Jr., led the family foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, which has contributed more than $364 million to hundreds of community and cultural organizations that make the Bay Area what it is. They include the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the restoration of Crissy Field and The Chronicle’s Season of Sharing Fund.”

The Haas family have been active institutional members within the NCG community since its inception. Evelyn Haas was an integral part of the Haas family’s legacy in the field of philanthropy, which will no doubt continue to impact the Bay Area for generations to come. Her passing will be a great loss to the Bay Area community.

Read the San Francisco Chronicle article commemorating Evelyn Haas’ life online.

NCG member the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr., Fund has partnered with Movement Advancement Project (MAP) to release A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights.

This brief report tracks 36 indicators of legal and social progress since the year 2000.

“The report concisely shows how the past 10 years have been a period of dramatic gains in equality for LGBT people in America. Two-thirds of the 36 benchmarks show significant advances, including sharp increases in the number of LGBT Americans protected by nondiscrimination and family recognition legislation at the state level. Less than one quarter of the indicators are negative, and four metrics show little change (either positive or negative).”

Learn more about the report online.

NCG member the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund has announced the appointment of Elizabeth (Liz) Gutierrez as Director for the Fund’s new Education Opportunities program.

Liz joined the Fund after serving in the administration of Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, where she led efforts to develop statewide education policies from pre-K through postgraduate levels.

The Haas, Jr. Fund’s Education Opportunities program seeks to close racial and economic achievement gaps in education and help move people out of poverty and into family-supporting jobs. The Fund launched the program as part of its new “Rights and Opportunities” focus – which is based on the belief that a just and caring society can be measured by how well it provides fundamental rights and opportunities to those most in need, including children, immigrants, and lesbians and gays.

NCG welcomes Liz to her new position and applauds the Haas, Jr. Fund’s efforts to address achievement gaps in education.

To learn more about Liz Gutierrez visit the Haas, Jr. Fund website.