The Marin Founders Celebration of 2015 and 2016 honored Marin County’s nonprofit leaders’ considerable contributions to the community. Marin Nonprofit Founders have tilled the ground, planted the seed and grown organizations that make Marin a wonderful community. Founders provide services for people in health care and other social services, education, art, science, environmental protection and awareness and more. Nonprofit Founders are people who could not walk by a problem without doing something about it.

The Marin Founders Celebration was hosted by and held at the Buck Institute where over 100 nonprofit founders were recognized for their significant achievements.. Marin Founders who have been celebrated can be found at  http://marinfounders.org/marin-founders/

Thank you for including my parents’ work and in particular my mother DeReath Collins in the Marin Founders Celebration on behalf of Lifehouse. The event was such a unique gathering of women and men who have shaped the character and culture of Marin County. The themes of social justice, educational opportunity, volunteerism and environmental responsibility were resounding. I know that my parents would have taken great delight in being in the company of others who took strong stands on the controversial and defining issues of their times in order to create a more just, healthy and inclusive ecology in Marin County. This work is never complete but it’s refreshing to pause and to take stock of where we’ve been as we chart the course ahead. – Charles M. Collins, President & CEO, YMCA, San Francisco

Thank you so very much for a lovely event in honor of the founders of so many worthy non-profits in Marin County. I know that Mary Taverna, our founder, was smiling from ear to ear. She appreciated the opportunities to re-connect with many of her fellow “founders” at the event. Thank you for acknowledging her, as she means so much to us. – Kitty Whitaker, RN, MS, Chief Executive Officer, Hospice By The Bay

What an exhilarating coming together of community! It was the definition of community —coming together, common values, appreciation of each other, connecting with old and new and close and distant friends and associates, and appreciating the leaders and their organizations in our Marin County. It was elegant, friendly, relaxed, joyful. Thank you from the deepest part of my heart for creating such energy and momentum and inspiration for each of us. It was a most gracious gift to Marin County and will continue to live on through the videos and the rekindling of spirits. – Joan Brown, Founder Civic Center Volunteers

Founders of the Marin Founders Celebration:  http://marinfounders.org/about/team/