Mission
The mission of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund is to help build a healthy, just, and vibrant society in which people feel connected to and responsible for their community.
Through grantmaking, collaboration, storytelling, and thought leadership, we invest in a variety of organizations whose work aligns with our values, advances our mission, and supports community well-being in all of its expressions.
The Fund seeks to use its power well, and support grantees to win on their own terms.
Mission
The mission of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund is to help build a healthy, just, and vibrant society in which people feel connected to and responsible for their community.
Through grantmaking, collaboration, storytelling, and thought leadership, we invest in a variety of organizations whose work aligns with our values, advances our mission, and supports community well-being in all of its expressions.
The Fund seeks to use its power well, and support grantees to win on their own terms.
Vision
We envision a Bay Area where all people can reach their fullest potential and live with a sense of purpose, dignity, and joy
Values
Our culture and approach to philanthropy is guided by four values, which allow us to be accountable, responsive, and in deep relationship and partnership with our communities.
Family
We care for each other as a human family, forging connections and creating continuity of culture and practice. By learning from our past, we intentionally reflect and plan for what future generations will inherit.
Possibility
We embrace what could be, dream big, and aspire to foster a society in which we all thrive. This spirit motivates us to repair broken and harmful systems and replace them with healing and sustaining ones.
Shared Responsibility
We strive to do our part to heal the world (as in the Jewish concept of tikkun olam), leading when necessary and joining when possible. This means acknowledging our shared, interconnected fate and embracing collective action that is informed by and led by community.
Belonging
We seek to celebrate and recognize our differences in order to be in an authentic community with others. We center equity and justice to build trust that makes a “we” possible.
Family
We care for each other as a human family, forging connections and creating continuity of culture and practice. By learning from our past, we intentionally reflect and plan for what future generations will inherit.
Possibility
We embrace what could be, dream big, and aspire to foster a society in which we all thrive. This spirit motivates us to repair broken and harmful systems and replace them with healing and sustaining ones.
Shared Responsibility
We strive to do our part to heal the world (as in the Jewish concept of tikkun olam), leading when necessary and joining when possible. This means acknowledging our shared, interconnected fate and embracing collective action that is informed by and led by community.
Belonging
We seek to celebrate and recognize our differences in order to be in an authentic community with others. We center equity and justice to build trust that makes a “we” possible.
How We Do It
We are committed to resourcing changemaking efforts so everyone in the Bay Area can reach their full potential and achieve economic, social, and community well-being.
How We Do It
We are committed to resourcing changemaking efforts so everyone in the Bay Area can reach their full potential and achieve economic, social, and community well-being.
History
In 1952, Walter A. Haas, Sr. and Elise Stern Haas established the Walter & Elise Haas Fund to further expand their commitment to opportunity and access for all. From the time the Fund was created until now, it has been a natural and enduring extension of our founders’ appreciation for San Francisco and the Bay Area.
The Fund’s co-founder, Elise Stern Haas, spent her life as a civic leader, artist, and patron of the arts. Her work helped pave the way for generations of women and young people to access the full benefit of the City’s culture and community. She was the first female president of both the Board of Directors of Mt. Zion Hospital and of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Since our founding, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund has been overseen by a board of directors comprising generations of the Haas family. Over the past seven decades, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund has invested over $390 million in grants to expand opportunity and access across the Bay Area. We are proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish so far and know there is still so much to be done. Learn more about some of the major milestones in our foundation’s history in our timeline below.
