Originally named the Zellerbach Family Fund, The Zellerbach Family Foundation was established in 1956 by Mrs. Jennie B. Zellerbach with a contribution of $54,600. Mrs. Zellerbach continued to make regular contributions to the Foundation and upon her death in 1965, her will provided additional resources. In its first year of operation, Foundation grants amounted to $8,210. Over the ensuing years, the Foundation has distributed over $70 million dollars in charitable support. From its inception, the Foundation has focused on the San Francisco Bay Area where the Zellerbach family has deep roots. Since 1868 when Anthony Zellerbach began selling paper from his horse drawn wagon in San Francisco, the Zellerbach family has been active in the economic, religious, artistic and philanthropic life of the community. In 1968 the Zellerbach Family Foundation took a pivotal step when it engaged the New York firm of Heald, Hobson and Associates, Inc. to review the Foundation and make recommendations as to its future course of action. The ensuing report acknowledged that the Foundation had begun to move away from the pattern of a family foundation with the principal purpose of supporting those things in which the donor was interested and toward the work of a more general purpose foundation. The Heald Hobson report encouraged the Foundation to move further in this direction and offered guidance that remains relevant today. Among the recommendations were the following: • Adopt a statement of purpose and after careful review, adopt programs within which the Foundation proposes to work • Adopt policies that focus the attention and concerted effort of the Board and staff on strategic problems • Phase out repetitive support of numerous “good causes” and focus programmatically and geographically on identifiable community problems • Add to the Board of Directors members outside the family who are interested in the objectives of the Foundation. Over time, the sustained commitment of the members of the board, and the teamwork of the Board and staff, combined to provide the leadership and stability that allowed the Foundation to incorporate the vision set out in the Heald Hobson Report. In late 2000 the Zellerbach Board and staff began a facilitated review of many aspects of the Foundation. Out of that work came a Mission and Values Statement that affirmed the long-held values of the Foundation and envisioned their application in the future.