John D. Goldman (born August 18, 1949) is an American businessman and philanthropist in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He is a member of the Haas family through his mother.

Biography

Goldman was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on August 18, 1949 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, the son of Rhoda (née Haas) and

Richard Goldman Richard N. Goldman (April 16, 1920 – November 29, 2010) was an American billionaire philanthropist who was the co-founder of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 with his wife, Rhoda Goldman. He founded the insurance company Goldman Insuran ...

. He is the 2nd eldest of four children: Richard Goldman (deceased 1989), Douglas E. Goldman, and Susan R. Gelman. His grandfather was

Walter A. Haas Walter A. Haas Sr. (May 11, 1889 – December 7, 1979), was an American billionaire businessman who was the president and chairman of Levi Strauss & Co. Early life and education Haas was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, one of four ch ...

, the former president and chairman of

Levi Strauss & Co Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

; his great-grandfather was Abraham Haas, the founder of Hellman-Haas Grocery (which became Smart & Final); and his great great-grandfather was

Simon Koshland Simon Koshland (1825–1896) was a Kingdom of Bavaria-born American businessman, and wool merchant. He is the patriarch of the Koshland and Haas family of San Francisco.The Jews of San Francisco, by Martin A. Meyer, Ph.D., Emanu-El, San Francisco, ...

was then one of the largest wool merchants in the United States. He was raised in the

Presidio Heights San Francisco, in the US state of California, has both major, well-known neighborhoods and districts as well as smaller, specific subsections and developments. While there is considerable fluidity among the sources, one guidebook identifies five m ...

neighborhood of

. In 1967, he graduated from Lick-Wilmerding High School. He graduated with a B.A. from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and with a M.B.A. from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1975. After school, he served in the Office of the Legislative Analyst for California. In 1978, he accepted a position as the state's assistant secretary of transportation under governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

. In 1981, he purchased a chain of children's clothing stores named ''Jamboree'' but the business failed. In 1986, he joined the Richard N. Goldman and Company (later Goldman Insurance Services) which was founded by his father. In 1991, he became president and in 2002, the family sold the business. After his mother died in 1998, he served as a trustee of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.

Philanthropy

In 2000, he was named chair of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco where he has served since 1987 (including as campaign chairman in 1991 and chairman of the Israel and overseas committee since 1998). Both his grandfather (1958–1959) and father (1980–1982) had served before him. In the 1990s, he served as president of the San Francisco-based Jewish Family and Children's Services. In 1990, he won Dinkelspiel Award for outstanding service by a young community leader. In 2001, he was appointed president of the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

where he was succeeded by Sakurako Fisher (wife of

William S. Fisher William Sydney Fisher (born 1958) is an American investor, Hedge fund, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He has been a director of Gap Inc. since 2009, and the founder and chief executive officer of Manzanita Capital Limited.

) in 2012. Goldman and his wife have established three separate charitable funds, the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation (with a focus on needy and disadvantaged youth in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties), the Serrano Foundation (a public fund), and the Jewish Community Endowment Fund (limited to Jewish agencies). Goldman also serves on the Board of Managers of

, the Board of Governors of the Insurance Industry Charitable Fund (IICF), the

Athletic Board. He serves as a trustee of several of his family's foundations: the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and the Goldman Environmental Foundation. He also serves on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society; as a member of the President's Council of the Coyote Point Center for Environmental Education; on the board of Project Open Hand; and board member of the

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

. He previously served as President of the Board of Jewish Family and Children's Services and is a former board member of the Institute on Aging of Mount Zion Health Systems. He has also served with

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...

and AIPAC.

Personal life

On May 29, 1977, he married Marcia Koshland who was also

.Meeker, p. 109 They have two children: Aaron Goldman (born 1980) and Jessica Goldman Foung (born 1983). His wife is an autism educator and serves as director of education with the Pacific Autism Center For Education in San Jose. The couple are members of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, John D. 1949 births Haas family Jewish American philanthropists Swarthmore College alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Businesspeople from California Living people Koshland family