Bill Somerville : Interview for the John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Bill Somerville, founder of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, discusses his early life in Berkeley, his long and productive career in philanthropy, and serving with John W. Gardner on the National Advisory Board of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. Somerville talks about growing up in Berkeley and later attending UC Berkeley. He then worked for the university, and he reflects on starting the minority recruiting program and the work-study program at Cal. He also discusses his friendship with J. Herman Blake. Somerville recounts his early work in philanthropy, including for the Alameda County Community Foundation and the Peninsula Community Foundation. He also talks about starting the Wright Institute at UC Berkeley, which offers graduate degrees in clinical psychology. He discusses his friendship and professional relationship with Thomas Ford, the famous real estate developer and philanthropist. Through Catherine Milton, Somerville became involved with the Haas Center, and he discusses his time on the National Advisory Board (NAB), including his role in starting fellowships focused on philanthropy such as the Tom Ford Fellowship. He discusses John Gardner’s presence in board meetings, and describes Gardner as diplomatic and strategic, yet understated. He also talks about issues that arose during NAB meetings, including debates over offering students academic credit for public service, which Gardner supported. He recounts Gardner’s role in pushing for service learning at Stanford.
Description
Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
---|---|
Extent | 1 audio file; 1 text file; 1photograph |
Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Date created | June 8, 2017 |
Language | English |
Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
Interviewee | Somerville, Bill | |
---|---|---|
Creator | Somerville, Bill | |
Interviewer | Schmidt-Posner, Jackie | |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
Subject | Gardner, John W. (John William), 1912-2002 |
---|---|
Subject | Civil Society > United States |
Subject | Haas Center for Public Service (Stanford University) |
Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
Biographical profile | Bill Somerville’s career as a maverick grantmaker spans fifty years in nonprofit work. Somerville founded Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF), which specializes in creative giving programs customized to donors’ interests. Under his stewardship, PVF has distinguished itself as a leader in “venture philanthropy,” a term coined by Somerville to describe PVF’s quick-response, high-impact grant model--including immediate response grants and paperless giving. Somerville is a founding member of the National Advisory Board, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University--a role he pioneered with John W. Gardner. Somerville has been invited by several universities to advise on philanthropy curriculum, taught philanthropy at Stanford University, and developed and taught the country’s first community college level philanthropy course at Oakland’s Laney Community College. In 2008, Somerville authored Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker with Fred Setterberg. In their review of the book, the Financial Times wrote, “In Grassroots Philanthropy, Somerville describes in engaging prose how to be an effective philanthropist. With no agenda other than his need to set things right in the world, he lays out a series of principles that can be adopted by both endowed national foundations and those with lesser means, providing they have an urge to use their wealth to improve the world. In Somerville, I found a risk-taking, venture philanthropist fused with a roll-up-his-sleeves social worker. The mixture is a philanthropic force of nature.” As the West Coast’s senior foundation executive, Somerville has consulted with over 400 community and family foundations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. He serves as an advisor to the Peery Family Foundation, the UC Berkeley Dean of Social Welfare, and the Junior League of Palo Alto. |
---|---|
Transcript |
|
Finding Aid | |
Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/bv377pz2755 |
Location | SC1355 |
Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksAlso listed in
Loading usage metrics...