Walter & Elise Haas Fund Launches WE Initiative: A $12.5 Million Investment in Bay Area Social Cohesion

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — At a time when social isolation has reached crisis levels and community divisions continue to deepen across America, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund today announced the launch of the WE Initiative, a transformative $12.5 million grantmaking strategy designed to contribute to cultivating belonging and healing community fragmentation in the Bay Area. This innovative grantmaking strategy provides substantial multi-year funding to organizations that celebrate cultural identity and bring people together across differences.

The WE Initiative—named as a tribute to Walter and Elise Haas while evoking the spirit of togetherness—builds upon and infuses the core intentions and values of the Fund’s previous work. The WE Initiative was developed through a multi-year process to integrate the profound legacies of the Fund’s many programs, including the former Arts, Jewish Life, and Racial Justice programs.

“We believe that the antidote for othering is belonging,” said Melissa Nop, Relationship Manager. “Healing, rest, and joy are at the center of finding repair, bridging divides, and cultivating togetherness. As culturalist Carole Bebelle noted in her concept of We-Making, ‘we have known in our gut for decades that arts and culture are fabulous and magnetic ways to unite people.’ We’re dreaming of bringing folks together again through arts, culture, and collective action.”