The Commonwealth Club of California’s

2nd Century Campaign Building a Home for Ideas

Introduction to the 2nd Century Campaign: A Home for Ideas

The Commonwealth Club launched the 2nd Century Campaign in order to purchase a permanent home for the organization, the first in the Club’s 111-year history. During the first phase of the 2nd Century Campaign, we successfully raised the funding to purchase a historic building on the Embarcadero in the city of San Francisco. We are now embarking on the second phase of the capital campaign to seek funds for the renovations of our new headquarters. We invite the you to enrich the cultural and civic vitality of San Francisco and the Bay Area by supporting The Commonwealth Club’s 2nd Century Campaign.

Founded in 1903 by San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer Edward F. Adams, The Commonwealth Club is the nation’s oldest and largest public forum. It is open to all for the impartial discussion of public issues, enriching civic life through public affairs programming. “We only propose to find truth and turn it loose in the world.” – Edward F. Adams, Founder

Our Founding and Mission

Our History

Plans to procure a building for the Club at its inception were derailed three years later by the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The Club is the oldest of the major cultural organizations in San Francisco, and it is the only one which does not have its own dedicated space.

Our Legacy

ennis Kucinich • Nancy Pelosi • Meg Whitman Cecil B. De Mille

• Deepak Chopra • Andre Agassi

n Hirsi Ali • Walter Cronkite • Michael Moore Woodrow Wilson

• Madeleine Albright • David Brooks

m Brokaw • Walter Isaacson • Robert Reich • Nancy Pelosi achel Maddow • Eric Schmidt • Sal Khan • Jane Goodall

eorge P. Shultz • Arianna Huffington • Grover Norquist

• Herbert Hoover • Robert F. Kennedy

• Bill Clinton • Cesar Chavez

• Khaled Hosseini • Muhammad Yunus

• Scott McClellan

• Herbert Hoover

• Theodore Roosev

• Franklin D. Roo

• Robert F. Kennedy

• Ron Paul

• Ronald W. Reagan

• Desmond Mpilo Tutu

• Albert Gore

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Richard Nixon

• Aida Alvarez •George W. Bush

• Audrey

• Bill Gates • Sandra Day O’Con

• Condoleezza

• Hillary Clinton

• John M

• Carol Chann

ita Khrushchev

Howard Shultz • Condoleezza Rice • Diane Feinstein

Paul Allen

• Michio Kaku

Kofi Annan

• Aida Alvarez

• Bill G

• Jacques Yves Cous

• Joan Baez

• Annie L

Despite not having a permanent home of our own, The Commonwealth Club has flourished and has brought

thousands of prominent speakers to San Francisco

Commonwealth Club Figures

22,000 Members

450 Annual programs San Francisco Silicon Valley

East Bay Marin

1,000,000 Listeners

Program Diversity and Reach

• Weekly broadcast on 230 stations in 39 states • Since 1924, nation’s longest running radio broadcast • 1 million listeners per week

• 3 free weekly podcasts • 1.2 million podcasters reached each year

• 539 1-hour program videos posted • 5 million+ views

Climate One at The Commonwealth Club is a thriving leadership dialogue on energy, the environment and the economy.

INFORUM is the Commonwealth Club experience for young professionals, featuring thought leaders from tech, pop culture, politics, food and business

Week to Week is a political roundtable program that reviews the week's political news to give deeper insight into what makes the world tick.

110 The Embarcadero: A Home for Ideas

The opportunity to fulfill the vision of our founders has arrived. In late 2012, the Club purchased a historic building on San Francisco’s waterfront and plans are underway for its complete renovation. The new building—including its transparent glass front along The Embarcadero—will be a physical symbol of the visions and ideals conceived by the Club’s founders in 1903, when they set out to create an Agora or “open place of assembly”.

Our New Home Will Offer

• A modern forum for civil public discourse • Dedicated space designed for optimal use • Combined office and meeting space • Production facilities for broadcasts, podcasts • Modern media technology • Eliminate more than $600,000 in rental costs • LEED Platinum or Gold Certification • Central location, high visibility • Specific design for civic forum use • First-floor, 150 seat auditorium • Second-floor, 299 seat auditorium for programs • Respectful preservation of the historic Steuart Street facade

110 The Embarcadero: From the Street

The Club’s new building will truly be a gem in the crown of San Francisco’s waterfront. With unimpeded views of the Bay and the Bay Bridge, the state-of-the art facility at 110 The Embarcadero will be just south of the Ferry Building and adjacent to the Audiffred Building, two of the city’s most historic landmarks.

110 The Embarcadero: The Lobby

The building’s excellent location and stellar design will not only be instrumental assets to the Club and its mission, but will also contribute to the growing cultural and civic vibrancy of The Embarcadero, attracting residents and visitors alike.

110 The Embarcadero: The Reception Area

110 The Embarcadero: Main Auditorium

2nd Century Campaign Leadership

Board of Governors • Anna W. M. Mok Chair • John R. Farmer Vice Chair

Campaign Cabinet Maryles Casto Chair Dr. Mary G.F. Bitterman J. Dennis Bonney Mary B. Cranston Joseph I. Epstein Dr. Charles Geschke Rev. Stephen A Privett, S.J. Skip Rhodes Brian D. Riley Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox Wendy Willrich

Honorary Campaign Co-Chairs • Hon. George P. Shultz • Charlotte Mailliard Shultz

Finish Line Committee J. Dennis Bonney William K. Bowes, Jr. Thomas Burkhart Maryles Casto Dennis A. Collins Evelyn S. Dilsaver Joseph I. Epstein John R. Farmer Chair Dr. Joseph R. Fink Leslie Saul Garvin Dr. Charles Geschke Don J. McGrath Anna W. M. Mok Fred Reid Skip Rhodes Richard Rubin Hon. Tad Taube Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox Russell M. Yarrow

Our Leadership

2014 Board Members, Advisory Board Members, Past Presidents and Past Chairs

Board Members (PC)= Past Chair, (PP)= Past President

Carlo Almendral William F. Adams** Courtland Alves Dan Ashley Massey J. Bambara Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman (PC) John L. Boland Michael R. Bracco Tom Burkhart Helen A. Burt Maryles Casto (PC) Mary B. Cranston (PC) Susie Cranston Dr. Kerry P. Curtis Dr. Jaleh Daie Dorian Daley Alecia DeCoudreaux Evelyn S. Dilsaver Dr. Gloria C. Duffy (President & CEO) Lee J. Dutra (Treasurer) Joseph I. Epstein (PP) Jeffrey A. Farber John R. Farmer (Vice Chair) Dr. Carol A. Fleming Leslie Garvin Dr. Charles Geschke

Paul A. Ginsburg Edie G. Heilman Hon. James C. Hormel Mary Huss John Leckrone Dr. Mary Marcy Frank C. Meerkamp Anna W. M. Mok (Chair) Kevin O’Brien Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J. Dr. Mohammad H. Qayoumi Frederick Reid Skip Rhodes (PP) Brian D. Riley Richard A. Rubin George M. Scalise Lata Krishnan Shah Ruth Shapiro Charlotte Mailliard Shultz George D. Smith, Jr. James Strother Hon. Tad Taube Charles Travers Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox Russell M. Yarrow Jed York

Advisory Board Members

Karin Helene Bauer Hon. William Bradley Dennise M. Carter Rolando Esteverena Steven Falk Amy Gershoni Jacquelyn Hadley Heather M. Kitchen Amy McCombs Don J. McGrath Hon. William Perry Hon. Barbara Pivnicka Hon. Richard Pivnicka Ray Taliaferro Nancy Thompson

Past Presidents and Chairs

Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman (PC) Hon. Shirley Temple Black (PP)** J. Dennis Bonney (PP) John Busterud (Senior PP) Maryles Casto (PC) Hon. Ming Chin (PP) Mary B. Cranston (PC) Joseph I. Epstein (PP) Dr. Joseph R. Fink (PP) William German (PP) Rose Guilbault (PC) Claude B. Hutchison, Jr. (PP) Dr. Julius Krevans (PP) Richard Otter (PP) Joseph Perrelli (PP) Toni Rembe (PP) Victor J. Revenko (PP) Skip Rhodes (PP) Renée Rubin (PP) Robert Saldich (PC) Connie Shapiro (PP) Nelson Weller (PP) Judith Wilbur (PP) Dennis Wu (PP)

** Deceased

"This is an important moment not just for The Commonwealth Club and San Francisco. But this is an important moment in the history of democracy.” —Former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz

Thank you