# Mimi and Peter Haas Fund Mimi and Peter Haas Fund is an Endowment / Foundation based in San Francisco, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States - **Founded:** 1982 - **Assets under management:** $175M - $200M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** mphf.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/mimi-and-peter-haas-fund ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Mimi and Peter Haas Fund was established in 1982 by the late Peter E. Haas, former Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co. and great-grandnephew of the company's founder, and his wife Mimi L. Haas. The foundation's endowment is built on wealth generated by the iconic San Francisco apparel company, and Mimi Haas remains its President, actively directing its operations more than four decades after its founding. Two of her sons, Daniel Lurie — elected Mayor of San Francisco in 2024 — and Ari Lurie, a professional artist, serve as Trustees. The foundation operates as a model of geographic and programmatic focus, directing its full grantmaking capacity toward early childhood education in San Francisco. It exclusively targets children from birth to age five in low-income families, funding organizations that deliver center-based and home-based early care and education. The Fund also collaborates with public agencies and other nonprofits to shape local early childhood policy, amplifying its impact beyond individual grants. Its portfolio includes support for organizations such as the Children's Council of San Francisco, a respected early education resource and referral agency, and the San Francisco Early Childhood Community of Practice, reflecting a strategy that blends service delivery with systems-level reform. The Fund maintains a deliberately lean operational structure typical of a focused private family foundation, with no additional offices beyond its San Francisco headquarters. While precise staffing numbers are not publicly disclosed, its grantmaking volume is anchored by an estimated endowment in the $175 million to $200 million range (Altss estimate). In early 2025, Daniel Lurie assumed the mayoralty of San Francisco following a November 2024 election victory, an event that places a Fund Trustee at the helm of the city the foundation serves (per the Associated Press, November 2024). The Fund's structure as a place-based, single-issue foundation is its differentiator. Unlike diversified or cause-agnostic family philanthropies, it deliberately forgoes broad mandates to pursue depth in one geography and one age cohort. This restriction concentrates risk but also concentrates expertise and relationships within a contained ecosystem, making the foundation a significant actor in San Francisco's early childhood sector despite a modest endowment relative to its wealth-origin peers. ## Sectors - Education - Early Childhood ## People - Mimi L. Haas — President - Daniel Lurie — Trustee - Ari Lurie — Trustee ## Questions ### Who runs the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund? Mimi L. Haas serves as President and has led the foundation since its founding in 1982. The late Peter E. Haas, former Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co., co-founded the foundation. The board includes two of Mimi Haas's sons: Daniel Lurie, elected Mayor of San Francisco in 2024, and Ari Lurie, a professional artist, both serving as Trustees. ### What is the Fund's specific grantmaking focus? The foundation concentrates its entire grantmaking on early childhood education for low-income children aged zero to five in San Francisco. It funds organizations providing high-quality early care and education and collaborates with public agencies to improve early childhood policy. It does not pursue diversified program areas or geographic expansion. ### How does the Fund approach policy work? The Fund engages in policy collaboration alongside direct grantmaking, working with public agencies and nonprofit coalitions to improve San Francisco's early childhood education system. This reflects a strategy of pairing service delivery grants with systemic advocacy, though the foundation does not fund electioneering or lobbying as its primary activity. ### Does the Fund accept unsolicited proposals? The Mimi and Peter Haas Fund operates primarily through proactive and invited grantmaking rather than open calls. Organizations aligned with its San Francisco early childhood mission should consult the foundation's website for current guidelines, but historically, the Fund has maintained a curated grantee portfolio. ### Does the foundation maintain any investment operations beyond grantmaking? Like most private foundations, the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund manages an endowment portfolio to generate the required annual payout for charitable distributions, but it does not operate a direct-investment platform, venture capital arm, or mission-related investment vehicle as a primary activity. Its structure is that of a traditional grantmaking foundation. ## Related profiles - [Greater Melbourne Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/greater-melbourne-foundation) - [Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/mary-reynolds-babcock-foundation) --- Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/mimi-and-peter-haas-fund Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology