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| Building Your Family's 100 Year Plan: The Series |
100 Year Plan Part III: The Good We Do
Daniel Gross
02/02/2004
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 Through personal example, they also inculcated a sense of service in the fourth generation. Walter Haas Sr. served on the boards of several universities, and Elise Haas was the president of Mt. Zion Hospital. In 952 the couple formed their own foundation, which helped support the arts, and their three children—Walter Jr., Peter and Rhoda—served on the board. "It’s in the way we were brought up, serving in the community, helping when we could. I saw what my parents were doing. I guess we tried to emulate them," said Walter Jr.
In 1958, the fourth generation assumed the helm at Levi Strauss, as Walter Haas Sr. retired to volunteer as the president of San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Commission, a position his mother-in-law had held. With Walter Haas Jr. as president and Peter Haas as executive vice president, the company continued to grow into a global phenomenon, spurred by a popular culture that elevated jeans into a fashion statement. And while they continued the firm’s philanthropic efforts (by the late 1960s, according to Levi’s historian Ed Cray, "As a percentage of net profits the San Francisco apparel manufacturer was giving more than twice that of most other firms"), they also brought to it a new vision. Instead of confining donations to the San Francisco area, they began to invest in the communities around the country where Levi Strauss had operations. "It’s not a question of whether or not a business can afford to undertake programs of social reform," Walter Haas Jr. argued. "We don’t think a business can afford not to." At the same time, members of the fourth generation also formed their own personal foundations, while continuing to help run the Walter Sr. and Elise Haas Foundation.
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