Programs

Daniel E. Koshland Civic Unity Awards Program

Daniel E. Koshland built a reputation for practical, bold, and even risky philanthropy to improve the quality of life for Bay Area residents.

In the spirit of Daniel Koshland’s life and works, the Koshland Civic Unity Program recognizes Bay Area grassroots risk-takers – those social innovators of bold spirit who accept the most stubborn neighborhood problems as a personal challenge and who work collaboratively to overcome them. In recognizing these individuals, the Koshland Committee of The San Francisco Foundation seeks to promote civic unity by building mutual respect among diverse people in the community and encouraging small, voluntary efforts to address neighborhood problems.

Program Goals

Through this awards program, the Koshland Committee hopes:

• To build the self-awareness and confidence needed for individuals to be creative and effective leaders in their neighborhoods
• To stimulate personal and professional growth among neighborhood leaders
• To increase understanding among different types of people within neighborhoods, and to promote the concept that nurturing these differences is a crucial element in solving neighborhood problems

Our Model

Our model for neighborhood change and leadership development focuses on best practices and lessons learned over our twenty-nine years of work in the Bay Area. Read more about our Koshland Model.

Koshland Neighborhoods and Fellows

The Koshland Program currently works in the five neighborhoods of the Excelsior, San Pablo, North Fair Oaks, Ashland and Cherryland, and West Berkeley throughout the five Bay Area counties served by The San Francisco Foundation.

We partner and build up the leadership of Bay Area grassroots risk-takers – social innovators who take on the most stubborn neighborhood problems and who work collaboratively to overcome them. Read more.

Koshland Arts and Culture Mini-Grants Program

The San Francisco Foundation’s Koshland Arts and Culture Mini-Grants Program supports free, community-based artistic and cultural activities that strengthen local neighborhoods. Mini-grants ranging from $500 to $3,000 are provided through a collaboration between the Foundation’s Arts and Culture program and the Koshland Civic Unity Awards Program. Read more.

Koshland Stories

Read about the leaders instrumental to the success of the Koshland Program in our Koshland Connect newsletters.

For more information about the Koshland Program at The San Francisco Foundation, please contact us at 415.733.8500 or koshland@sff.org.