netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Sobrato Development Companies, a prominent Silicon Valley development firm specializing in commercial and residential real estate. He is also a noted philanthropist in the Bay Area as well. Together with his family, he has created the Sobrato Family Foundation.
John Sobrato is #123 on the 2009 Forbes 400 list with an estimated worth of $2.5 billion.[1] His company's holdings include over eleven million square feet of commercial space in over 110 buildings and over 7,500 residential units. Sobrato keeps to a single tenant policy for his commercial properties to minimize management difficulties and focuses on upper-end West Coast apartments for his residential portfolio.
Mr. Sobrato graduated from Santa Clara University and is a trustee of both his alma mater and National Hispanic University in San Jose, California. He serves on numerous boards throughout the Silicon Valley area.
SOBRATO FAMILY & BUSINESS OVERVIEW
For over 50 years, the Sobrato family has played a dynamic role in the emergence and growth of Silicon Valley through real estate development. The Sobrato tradition began in 1955 with Ann Sobrato who developed one of the first “tilt-up” style buildings in Santa Clara County. Her son, John A. Sobrato, followed in her footsteps by founding Midtown Realty in Palo Alto. In the early 1960’s, they teamed up to begin building for the emerging electronic industry.
In the 1970’s, with explosive growth in the Valley, John A. Sobrato founded Sobrato Development Companies. His son, John Michael Sobrato, joined the company in the 1980’s thereby creating another family partnership. Today, the family business owns and manages 100 office or R&D buildings throughout Silicon Valley encompassing approximately 9.5 million square feet and 30 apartment projects totaling just under 8,000 units. Additionally, they own over 400 acres of land in strategic areas throughout Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
FOUNDATION CREATION
In the mid-1990’s, Ann Sobrato, John A. Sobrato and his wife Sue, along with their three children (John Michael, Sheri and Lisa Sobrato) jointly formalized their commitment to share their success with the communities where their family development business has thrived for the last 50 years.
To support their work, the family has created two separate entities to fulfill their family’s philanthropic objectives: a private independent foundation called the Sobrato Family Foundation that was formed in 1996, and a public charity legally named the Sobrato Foundation that was formed in 2004 (a supporting foundation of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation).
Each entity is governed by its own Board of Directors although the two entities share grantmaking, program and administrative resources and operate by the same set of values and guiding principles.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Foundation's work is guided by the following principles:
We approach our work with appreciation and gratitude
We respect hard work and commitment
We honor integrity and genuineness
We actively engage in causes that we are passionate about
We enjoy celebrating life together
GOALS
The Foundation's work is aimed at achieving the following goals:
To strive for excellence and efficiency in conducting our community grantmaking and lending
To develop long-term, trusting relationships in the community
To achieve maximum impact by responding to nonprofit agencies greatest needs
To be recognized as a philanthropic leader in Silicon Valley
To pass the legacy of giving to future generations of the Sobrato family
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
From 1996-2006, the Board and staff have been committed to building and growing an effective and efficient organization that will support and sustain the philanthropic legacy of the Sobrato family for the long-term future.
In the Foundation’s early years, the Board focused on operating one program that awarded small cash project or program support grants to a small pool of nonprofits annually. When professional staff was hired for the first time in 2000, the Board engaged in a thoughtful strategic planning process. The result transformed the entire operations programs and processes given its new direction to exclusively provide general operating capital to meet agencies’ greatest needs – salaries, rent and utilities, building rehabilitation and acquisition.
Since that time, the Foundation’s asset base has grown as a result of two major donations:
1) An estate bequest from Ann Sobrato (1915-2000) – Ann, mother of John A. Sobrato and family matriarch, was well regarded as an entrepreneurial, real estate businesswoman along with being a civic leader, volunteer and generous philanthropist. It is Ann’s legacy upon which the second, third and fourth generations of the Sobrato family are inspired by today as they conduct their Foundation work.
2) Building Donations – since 2000, the Sobrato family has donated 9 buildings and 124 acres of land valued at $312 million for community benefit. Beneficiaries include the Sobrato Family Foundation, the Sobrato Foundation and family donor advised funds, the Morgan Hill School District, Technology Enterprise Network, Santa Clara University and Resource Area for Teachers.
The impact of these two significant donations has resulted in a four-fold expansion of the Foundation's charitable program portfolio since its inception in 1996. Additionally, the Foundation’s asset base that was originally seeded with less than $500,000 has grown to a combined total of approximately $254 million between the Sobrato Family Foundation and the Sobrato Foundation as of March 2007 making it one of the fastest growing Foundation’s locally.
from Silicon Valley and beyond at its Exemplary Leader Celebration. The Exemplary Leader Award is presented to a regional or national figure who models the boundary-crossing, collaborative leadership style that ALF promotes, and the John W. Gardner Leadership Awards to ALF Senior Fellows who demonstrate ALF core values of diversity, inclusiveness, civility, engagement, and respect.
On Monday, April 11, 2011 ALF honored U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu as its 2011 Exemplary Leader and ALF Senior Fellows Blanca Alvarado, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Emeritus and Lisa Sonsini, Board President of the Sobrato Foundation, as the recipients of the organization’s John W. Gardner Leadership Award.
ALF Senior Fellow David Yarnold, President and CEO of the National Audubon Society, led an onstage conversation with Dr. Chu. Senior Fellows Karen Rudolph, Partner, Two Rivers Circle, and Stephen S. Smith, Senior Managing Director, Arma Partners, co-chaired the Exemplary Leader Celebration, held at the newly renovated Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
John Sobrato is #123 on the 2009 Forbes 400 list with an estimated worth of $2.5 billion.[1] His company's holdings include over eleven million square feet of commercial space in over 110 buildings and over 7,500 residential units. Sobrato keeps to a single tenant policy for his commercial properties to minimize management difficulties and focuses on upper-end West Coast apartments for his residential portfolio.
Mr. Sobrato graduated from Santa Clara University and is a trustee of both his alma mater and National Hispanic University in San Jose, California. He serves on numerous boards throughout the Silicon Valley area.
SOBRATO FAMILY & BUSINESS OVERVIEW
For over 50 years, the Sobrato family has played a dynamic role in the emergence and growth of Silicon Valley through real estate development. The Sobrato tradition began in 1955 with Ann Sobrato who developed one of the first “tilt-up” style buildings in Santa Clara County. Her son, John A. Sobrato, followed in her footsteps by founding Midtown Realty in Palo Alto. In the early 1960’s, they teamed up to begin building for the emerging electronic industry.
In the 1970’s, with explosive growth in the Valley, John A. Sobrato founded Sobrato Development Companies. His son, John Michael Sobrato, joined the company in the 1980’s thereby creating another family partnership. Today, the family business owns and manages 100 office or R&D buildings throughout Silicon Valley encompassing approximately 9.5 million square feet and 30 apartment projects totaling just under 8,000 units. Additionally, they own over 400 acres of land in strategic areas throughout Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
FOUNDATION CREATION
In the mid-1990’s, Ann Sobrato, John A. Sobrato and his wife Sue, along with their three children (John Michael, Sheri and Lisa Sobrato) jointly formalized their commitment to share their success with the communities where their family development business has thrived for the last 50 years.
To support their work, the family has created two separate entities to fulfill their family’s philanthropic objectives: a private independent foundation called the Sobrato Family Foundation that was formed in 1996, and a public charity legally named the Sobrato Foundation that was formed in 2004 (a supporting foundation of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation).
Each entity is governed by its own Board of Directors although the two entities share grantmaking, program and administrative resources and operate by the same set of values and guiding principles.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Foundation's work is guided by the following principles:
We approach our work with appreciation and gratitude
We respect hard work and commitment
We honor integrity and genuineness
We actively engage in causes that we are passionate about
We enjoy celebrating life together
GOALS
The Foundation's work is aimed at achieving the following goals:
To strive for excellence and efficiency in conducting our community grantmaking and lending
To develop long-term, trusting relationships in the community
To achieve maximum impact by responding to nonprofit agencies greatest needs
To be recognized as a philanthropic leader in Silicon Valley
To pass the legacy of giving to future generations of the Sobrato family
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
From 1996-2006, the Board and staff have been committed to building and growing an effective and efficient organization that will support and sustain the philanthropic legacy of the Sobrato family for the long-term future.
In the Foundation’s early years, the Board focused on operating one program that awarded small cash project or program support grants to a small pool of nonprofits annually. When professional staff was hired for the first time in 2000, the Board engaged in a thoughtful strategic planning process. The result transformed the entire operations programs and processes given its new direction to exclusively provide general operating capital to meet agencies’ greatest needs – salaries, rent and utilities, building rehabilitation and acquisition.
Since that time, the Foundation’s asset base has grown as a result of two major donations:
1) An estate bequest from Ann Sobrato (1915-2000) – Ann, mother of John A. Sobrato and family matriarch, was well regarded as an entrepreneurial, real estate businesswoman along with being a civic leader, volunteer and generous philanthropist. It is Ann’s legacy upon which the second, third and fourth generations of the Sobrato family are inspired by today as they conduct their Foundation work.
2) Building Donations – since 2000, the Sobrato family has donated 9 buildings and 124 acres of land valued at $312 million for community benefit. Beneficiaries include the Sobrato Family Foundation, the Sobrato Foundation and family donor advised funds, the Morgan Hill School District, Technology Enterprise Network, Santa Clara University and Resource Area for Teachers.
The impact of these two significant donations has resulted in a four-fold expansion of the Foundation's charitable program portfolio since its inception in 1996. Additionally, the Foundation’s asset base that was originally seeded with less than $500,000 has grown to a combined total of approximately $254 million between the Sobrato Family Foundation and the Sobrato Foundation as of March 2007 making it one of the fastest growing Foundation’s locally.
from Silicon Valley and beyond at its Exemplary Leader Celebration. The Exemplary Leader Award is presented to a regional or national figure who models the boundary-crossing, collaborative leadership style that ALF promotes, and the John W. Gardner Leadership Awards to ALF Senior Fellows who demonstrate ALF core values of diversity, inclusiveness, civility, engagement, and respect.
On Monday, April 11, 2011 ALF honored U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu as its 2011 Exemplary Leader and ALF Senior Fellows Blanca Alvarado, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Emeritus and Lisa Sonsini, Board President of the Sobrato Foundation, as the recipients of the organization’s John W. Gardner Leadership Award.
ALF Senior Fellow David Yarnold, President and CEO of the National Audubon Society, led an onstage conversation with Dr. Chu. Senior Fellows Karen Rudolph, Partner, Two Rivers Circle, and Stephen S. Smith, Senior Managing Director, Arma Partners, co-chaired the Exemplary Leader Celebration, held at the newly renovated Computer History Museum in Mountain View.