The Foundation is established by Martha Gerbode (environmentalist, philanthropist and volunteer in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii). Throughout the Gerbode Foundation’s history, its grantmaking is informed by a strong commitment to equality and justice. Through the Foundation, Martha’s children and their families make investments that result in meaningful changes in people’s lives. They also cultivate a culture of risk-taking and innovation that reflects Martha’s reputation as a maverick and visionary activist. (To read more about Martha, click here.)
The Foundation hires Tom Layton, former business executive and VP/National Director of the Coro Foundation, as its Executive Director. During his tenure, Tom helps to shape and lead the dramatically shifting field of philanthropy in the Bay Area, as well as helps to build the capacity of the growing non-profit field. He sets forth the reputation of the Foundation as being “open, accessible and opportunistic.” Some of the Foundation’s early investments include support for end-of-life issues, reproductive rights and health, conservation, arts and culture, and the preservation of the Native Hawaiian language. After 38 years of service and numerous civic and philanthropic awards acknowledging his contributions to the field, Tom retires in 2014.
The Foundation creates the Special Awards in the Arts program, which makes innovative grants to Bay Area arts organizations to commission and produce new works from gifted artists, including playwrights, choreographers, composers, visual artists, poets, and multimedia artists. In the first year of its theater round, a grant is awarded to Eureka Theater, which commissions Tony Kushner to write “Angels in America.”
The Foundation creates the Gerbode Fellows program, a professional development and renewal program for Foundation grantees, in recognition of the need for sustained leadership in the field and of the limited opportunities available for non-profit leaders. The program runs for 27 years in partnership with the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare.
In partnership with the Hawaii Community Foundation (“HCF”), the Foundation launches the Ho’okele Awards, a program similar to the Gerbode Fellows program that recognizes outstanding community leaders. The Foundation ends its partnership with HCF when the Foundation restructures in 2016. The program continues to be very successful.
Tom Layton retires and Stacie Ma’a replaces him as President. Stacie was hired in 1999 to be the Foundation’s first program officer, and later became its Vice President. Stacie becomes one of the first Native Hawaiian women in the country to lead a family foundation.
The Foundation undergoes a major restructure to allow the third generation of family members to focus on their own interest areas and continue their work in philanthropy. Half the funds remain with the Gerbode Foundation and the other half results in the creation of three individual private foundations. (For more information on the restructure, please see the Press Release here.)
In 2017, a new Board is seated. The new Board consists of Martha Gerbode’s son, Frank A. Gerbode, M.D., his three children Sharon, Colin, and Ian, and Foundation President Stacie Ma’a.
