The Foundation’s Beginning:
The Harder Foundation was founded in 1955 by Del Harder, who was Vice President for Operations, and later Executive Vice President, of the Ford Motor Company. Del had played a key role in the reorganization of the automobile industry for the World War II mobilization, and in the post-war reorganization of the automated manufacturing processes at Ford. He was a largely self-taught engineer, who worked his way up the corporate ladder from very humble beginnings.
Outside of work, Del Harder treasured the recreational time spent in the woodlands of northern Michigan. In the early 1960’s he met and befriended a young corporate attorney, Nathan B. Driggers (Barry) and they forged a solid friendship until Mr. Harder’s death in 1973. While primarily working associates, the two men very much enjoyed a day in the woods, felling dead trees and then chopping up the wood together. It was during those days outdoors that they discussed the strong emerging environmental movement and the bedrock protections they produced. At that point, the Foundation had not yet defined its core mission, purpose or priorities for operation.
Not long after Mr. Harder’s death, Barry Driggers, working with all stakeholders, took the opportunity to reorient the foundation and define its strong conservation advocacy mandate that has perpetuated to this day. He led Foundation trustees to focus the grantmaking program on conservation and environmental protection, and gradually expanded support to organizations in the Western United States where large tracts of public land provided extensive refuge for biodiversity.
Driggers supported environmental activism and understood the need to fund grassroots organizations at the front lines of environmental defense. He developed a sophisticated investment strategy for the Foundation that helped propel early asset growth, and he strengthened the Foundation’s stewardship model by recruiting and retaining professional non-Harder-family members on the Board of Trustees. He saw the potential of the Foundation and its way of doing business to create lasting conservation outcomes, and worked to build a philanthropic organization that could stand the test of time.
The Building Years:
By the early 1980’s, Driggers recruited Del Langbauer, grandson of Del Harder, as the Foundation’s first dedicated program staff member. At the time, Del was already a Foundation Trustee and had established an academic career in the Puget Sound area. He was a successful alpinist, climbing in Washington, California, Alaska, and the Himalayas. He shared a tremendous affinity for the outdoors and protection of wild places, so left his university career and devoted himself to work as the full-time program officer of the Foundation. Shortly thereafter, the Foundation established its main office in Tacoma, Washington, and from there would grow its grant making practice and advocacy work in the Northwest for the next 25 years.
In 2006, Kay Treakle was hired as the very first non-family staff member for the Foundation and began working out of the Tacoma office. Kay, building upon Barry’s foundational principles and Del’s grantmaking acumen, honed the Foundation’s conservation orientation and further defined the strategic grant making style that continues to this day. Kay orchestrated several “signature” advocacy campaigns that not only reinforced the Foundation’s reputation as a strategic and influential grant maker, but have also produced lasting benefits for biodiversity in the Northwest–most notably the Fossil Fuels Campaigns of the 2010’s, including Power Past Coal and Stand Up to Oil. Kay Treakle retired prematurely, and quite unexpectedly, in early 2019 because of a serious illness. She sadly passed away a year later.
In a planned and well-orchestrated transition, Del Langbauer retired as President of the Foundation in February 2015, and then Vice President John Driggers–the son of Nathan (Barry) Driggers–was elected to succeed Del in that role. John is uniquely aware of and committed to the history and principles of the Foundation (Barry operated it from his bedroom during the 1970’s!), and continues as our President today.
The Foundation Today:
In August 2020, Cathy Lehman was hired as Senior Program Officer working out of Bellingham, WA. She provides continued leadership for our long-standing commitment to the Pacific NW. In 2024, Tim Stevens was hired as our Northern Rockies Program Officer in Livingston, MT to provide greater knowledge to our program work there. This expansion of staff allows Cathy and Tim more time to devote to grantee and program engagement. Now 50 years in, The Harder Foundation remains steadfastly committed to our mission: protecting biodiversity and ecosystem health in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies.