Steve Toben Email Address

Principal

The Flora Family Foundation was established in 1998 by the family of William R. Hewlett (co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Company) and his late wife, Flora Lamson Hewlett. It is predicated on the belief that each individual has an obligation to go beyond the narrow confines of his or her personal interests and be mindful of the broader concerns of humanity. The Foundation is organized around two groups. The Family Council includes the five children and the twelve grandchildren of William and Flora Hewlett, along with the spouses of the children and grandchildren. This is a consultative body that meets once a year to help determine the organization's policies and programmatic directions. It also serves as a forum for discussion and instruction in matters related to the philanthropic interests of the family. The rotating board of directors consists of the children and grandchildren of Bill and Flora Hewlett, plus two non-family members. Spouses of the children and the grandchildren also serve on the board. At any given time, six or seven family members sit on the board for one- or two-year terms. The Flora Family Foundation places no constraints on grantmaking so long as grant candidates fit the philanthropic interests of the board and Family Council and meet IRS requirements. This provides unrestricted opportunities for both responsive and strategic grantmaking. Grants of the Flora Family Foundation reflect the extraordinary diversity of interests among the members of the Family Council. The Foundation supports programs in education, arts and culture, international development, the advancement of women, health, the environment, human services, economic development, humanitarian assistance, cultural preservation, and international security. FFF grants assist work throughout the United States and in countries around the world. The Foundation funds fellowships, research projects, endowments, start-up expenses, media productions, program initiatives, capital improvements, and general operations. Each year the Foundation awards a large number of grants for general operating support over multiple years. This form of support is particularly valuable to nonprofit organizations. The Foundation's wide reach reflects a conscious rejection of all boundaries on grantmaking. The Foundation's open architecture encourages the initiative of each member of the Family Council, capitalizing on the wide-ranging talents and experiences of individuals who share equally in decision-making. The Foundation also has two program areas. The Climate Protection Program focuses on ways to slow emissions of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. The program is chiefly concerned with coal combustion and the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants such as methane and black carbon. The Gap Program addresses the gulf in wealth between the world's rich and poor. The Gap Program supports community-based groups and nongovernmental organizations that seek to improve the lives of the poor in selected developing countries. Grants in both the Climate Protection Program and the Gap Program are by invitation. Beyond the provision of financial resources, FFF Family Council members and Foundation staff support the work of grantees by serving on boards of directors, brokering new funding relationships, and supporting collaborations of grantmakers. Because of the absence of limitations on the scope of grants, the Foundation is unable to consider unsolicited proposals. Instead, the Foundation's staff and Family Council circulate widely in the nonprofit sector, conferring with colleagues and assessing grant prospects in order to generate candidates for support. The hallmark of the Flora Family Foundation is flexibility and responsiveness to needs and opportunities as they arise across the entire public benefit sector. The staff and Family Council are honored to have been associated with so many exceptional organizations working to support communities and protect the environment around the world.

Steve Toben is the principal of Toben Consulting, an advisory service for donors and family foundations. Steve specializes in support to philanthropic families addressing governance and programming issues and brings a mediator's perspective to his work with families. He has particular expertise in philanthropy addressed to climate change. From 2003 to 2022, Steve served as president of the Flora Family Foundation (FFF) in Menlo Park, California. The foundation supports the philanthropic activities of the descendants of Bill Hewlett, co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company. Interests of the Flora Family Foundation include the environment, international development, the arts, and education. Before joining the staff of FFF, Steve worked as a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where he directed the foundation's programs on conflict resolution and the environment. He is a former chair of the Environmental Grantmakers Association and a co-founder of the Peace and Security Funders Group. He is a recipient of the Peacemaker/Peacebuilder Award from the National Peace Foundation in Washington for his work in international conflict resolution. Steve has served on several nonprofit boards of directors, including the Growald Climate Fund in Boston, Innovations for Poverty Action in New Haven, Legacy Works in Palo Alto, the Consensus-Building Institute in Cambridge, the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation in New York, Northern California Grantmakers in San Francisco, the Great Valley Center in Modesto, and the Headwaters Basin Project in Soda Springs, CA. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and the Yale Law School, Steve began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Sam J. Ervin III on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Steve practiced law for eight years, first with the firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and then in the Office of the San Mateo County Counsel in Redwood City. Steve is a former member of the Portola Valley Town Council and twice served as mayor. His wife Janice Toben is the co-founder of the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL), which trains educators across the world in methods for advancing intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies of students, with an emphasis on teacher renewal and whole school transformation.