Martin Paley – Thinking About The Future
by Jan Corazza and Karin Evans
When long-time Bay Area civic leader Martin Paley addressed a group of Ashby Village 
members and friends this fall, asking everyone to think about the future and to think about how to make a positive commitment to that future, he spoke from deep experience. As former Director of the San Francisco Foundation and later Executive Director of the San Francisco Library Foundation – where he is listed among the Library Heroes – Martin brings a broad understanding of how organizations are created and how they endure to his service on the Ashby Village Development Committee.
A Berkeley resident since the mid-1950s, when he attended UC Berkeley and received his Master’s in Public Health, Martin went on to become a prominent Bay Area and national foundation leader. As head of the San Francisco Foundation, he led a drive that boosted the Foundation’s assets substantially, allowing it to offer support to literally thousands of nonprofit organizations active in the arts, education, health, urban affairs, and the environment. In the early 1990s, as Library Foundation Executive Director, Martin managed the extremely successful capital campaign to furnish the new San Francisco Main Library. Over the years he has also served as an advisor to Kaiser Permanente, KQED, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the Bernard Osher Foundation, and many other nonprofit and government agencies. Closer to home, Martin was recently honored for his service to the Berkeley Community Fund, where he helped build and hone its mission.
In 2011, Martin joined Ashby Village, and now brings his wealth of knowledge to his position as a member of the Development Committee. “Ashby Village has benefited greatly from Martin’s vast experience,” notes Executive Director Andy Gaines. “He is always focused on the fundamentals. As we begin our new Legacy Giving program, his insights and leadership are especially valuable.”
“As a young organization,” Martin says, “we need to think about the future. There’s no doubt that Ashby Village will be needed in the next five, ten, and twenty years as the elder population continues to grow. The question is, in addition to our support today, what steps do we take now to provide the resources for the future? How do we fulfill our commitment to the broader community of which Ashby Village is an increasingly important part?”
Martin also observes, “It seems a natural part of the development of Ashby Village that the many members, volunteers, donors and other community friends would think about supporting the organization through their estates. Many of us have already done so for other organizations important to our lives, and Ashby Village clearly will be growing in importance to us all. That’s why I welcomed this opportunity to serve and help create the future.”