Advisory Board

We are lucky to count on a broad network of amazing friends and advisors. This trusted and experienced board of advisors has been kind enough to offer up their time and talent to help guide our work. As a small organization, we rely on the expertise and ideas of others, and this group of individuals play a particularly vital role, informing the direction and strategy of the Foundation.

Peter Hero is Vice President of Development and Institute Relations at Caltech. In that capacity he handles all marketing, communications, and fundraising activities for the Institute. Prior to this he was on the faculty of the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is also the former president of Community Foundation Silicon Valley. During his 17-year tenure, Community Foundation Silicon Valley grew from a small foundation with less than $10 million in assets, and only three staff, to a regional center for philanthropy with over $1.2 billion in endowed assets and more than 600 philanthropic funds under its umbrella, including 12 supporting foundations and 35 corporate-advised funds.

With extensive experience in international community foundation development, Peter has been working since 1996 in Central and Eastern Europe to build a network of community foundations in the region. In recognition of this work, Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel appointed him to the 2002 NATO Summit Council of Advisers in Prague. Peter is a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and his writing on community development and philanthropy has been published in the United States and Europe. His latest book, Local Mission, Global Vision, Community Foundations in the 21st Century was published in 2007 and has been translated into 4 languages.

Prior to joining Community Foundation Silicon Valley, Peter was president of the Maine College of Art, a four-year college of art and design and the largest cultural organization in northern New England, and he headed the Arts Commission for the state of Oregon. Peter holds a master of business administration degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a master of arts degree in art history from Williams College and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the Maine College of Art.