As the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits moved into training just as she predicted. Many years ago, Flo said to me you will grow SVCN to provide training. I told her no, we were focused on advocacy, she said just wait it will happen. Two years ago we launched Hands on Tech for nonprofits and in July 2014 we will launch our Nonprofit Organizational Leadership program.  So again she was right. I think of her all the time  and still hear her voice and her encouragement, thank you Flo.

I just stumbled over the news of Flo's passing in a Google search - we only met once when she was speaking at the Nonprofit Management Assocition conference I organized in San Francisco in 1992 - she was amazing.

Flo gave an absolutely riveting address on why the goal of all social change and medical nonprofits should be to go out of business - that our role was to create permanent change.

Her words have always stuck with me and I am still inspired by her wisdom.

Rest in peace, Flo

Ann Rosenfield
Toronto, ON 

Dear Grandma,

You already know how much I still miss you ... :( It's been 4 months and I can't seem to forget how much you mean to me. This December might be my first birthday without you, and I can't believe it.. I'll still remember you for the sake of everyone else, not just my mom ..

~Jayna 

You were our wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt,
Our friend, classmate, mentor, teacher,
Our leader, our cheerleader, our helper, our partner,
Our strength, our comfort, our love, our joy.

And you are all of these things still.

Now the time has come for you to rest.
You've earned your sleep, you deserve your peace.

While we grieve together, while we remember together,
While we strive to make your dreams live on,
Whlle we strive to make our own dreams come alive,

We carry your love and your legacy with us.

God, thank you for letting us have Flo, Florence, Mom, Grandma in our lives.

From your husband, chilren, grandchildren, family,
friends, and all whose lives you've touched.


Photo of Flo (and accompanying family) at the "Sneaker Ball" celebration and fundraiser for Shoes That Fit, on April 21st, 2012.
 

From Becky Chapman Weaver, who is heartbroken not to be at Flo’s memorial service:

Even a little bit of Flo made a big difference.  I was fortunate to work with her for two years in the early 1980’s, and it changed my life.  At the age of 25, I’d already had a couple of good bosses.  Flo was my first great one.  We didn’t use the word so much back then, but she wasn’t just a director, she was a mentor.

She taught me what I needed to know to build a career beyond my imagination – and along the way, she taught me some truths about fundraising, the nonprofit world, and life.

She was unflinchingly honest. Her goal was always to make things better, and to do that, she didn’t shy away from the hard stuff.  When I did the wrong thing, she’d tell me.  After we’d talked about it in all seriousness, she would give that penetrating look into my eyes, blink real big, smile even bigger, and move on.  She expected the best of us all.

Flo was hard-working, but more fun than blowing bubbles from a hot-air balloon. Her laugh is one thing I will never forget.  I treasure every time we got together over the years – from margaritas after work, to parties on the 4th of July, to the lunch she organized to let us all see Susi again.  And the only thing that could make me laugh harder and longer than a story told by Flo… was a story told by Flo and Susi together. 

When Flo spoke, people listened.  Once I almost didn’t listen, but typical Flo didn’t give up, and because of that, my life changed.  I was loving life at my museum job, when Flo called to tell me to go interview with a new cancer research foundation.  I thanked her and said I wasn’t interested.  She called again a couple of weeks later… I still wasn’t interested.  Then I learned that my favorite curator was dying of cancer because there was no test that could have diagnosed him in time.  Flo called again, and this time I listened.  I’ve now spent more than 18 years at three organizations dedicated to cancer research.  Today that same curator would have been diagnosed and probably live to study birds (his passion) for many years, because of the progress research has made.  Many of us are fortunate to have played a small part in such things, because Flo Green taught us how to raise money and build better nonprofits.

Adding up my time at the museum, organizations for abused and troubled kids, and cancer research, I’ve spent 31 years, so far, raising money to help make the world a better place.  If I had not met Flo, I would not have chosen this career, let alone known how to go about it. 

I wonder, if we added up all the person-years that have been dedicated to the nonprofit world because Flo Green set someone on this course, how many lifetimes of a difference we would see that she made - how many careers she made more effective, how many causes she thus improved, and in turn how many lives she touched.  It boggles the mind. 

But more even more than all that, I treasure Flo for the loving, passionate woman she was and the person she inspired me to be. I was a small piece of Flo’s life; she was a huge piece of mine.  Few of us can say we have a life as full as hers was, but surely we all aspire to it.  Few of us can say we loved as much as she did, but please God, let us all try.

Sedona, Arizona was one of our favorite places. In the summer of 2010 we visited there and took the train trip from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon. On a beautiful day we strolled along the rim of the Canyon admiring the vista and watched condors soaring effortlessly and magnificently on the updrafts from the Canyon. 

Here was a woman who had four young children and was beginning her college career against so many obstacles.  A woman before her time. Her expereinces at our college in Ridgecrest were exemplary for other women to follow and emulate.  She later went on to become a leader in Ridgecrest. What a shock to many traditional and conventional minded people.  She lead the way at the college and in the community.  And her love of culture and respect for the vital issues of our time again made her a rebel in so many people's eyes. But nothing ever stopped her. The community of Ridgecrest owes this woman so much. Her influence is everywhere. In the local museum, in the parks, in the Clota, productions, in the ideas behind good, responsive government, and in all of the community organizations that work to improve and mend the lives of people in our community, Florence will always live.

Thank you Florence for not being afraid of life's obstacles but to confront them in so many successful ways. WE owe you a lot and respect and love you. 

Flo and Gary had their honeymoon in Hawaii in 1985 and have returned to Hawaii, usually on or near their anniversary date of February 16th about every other year since then. In 2012 we had our anniversary dinner at the Four Seasons resort just north of Kailua-Kona and spent 2-1/2 weeks relaxing and enjoying the Big Island at the Waikoloa Resort. One of the highlights of this trip was an overnight stay at a B&B near the summit of Kilauea volcano (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park), which allowed us to visit the summit after dark and observe the spectacle of the brilliant red glow reflecting off the mist, clouds and smoke from the lava lake that has been active within Kilauea's summit crater for two years.

Flo and I were on the road more than 40 weeks a year while at the Grantsmanship Center.  Every week we each went to a new city.  We never were in the same city together, but we talked by phone almost daily.

The Trainers had contests.  Who would get stuck the worst hotels, who would fly to the wrong city, who would have life threatening experiences and who would bring the most ridiculous souvenier from each visited city (although I thought I'd win with a horse made out of manure, she beat me out with a Toad Suck cup from Toad Suck, Arizona).

One late night, Flo and I were on the phone. She was at the Hawaiian Inn motel in Seattle (yes, that's right) and I was in a rather nasty hotel on the South Side of Chicago.  I was in my bed, and Flo was getting ready to do the same.

I happened to look at the ceiling above my bed and saw a huge hole!  A few moments later I saw a light coming from the hole.  Then I saw a helmet.  The light was attached to it!  A man crawled across the hole, stopped and waved down at me and moved on.

I was laughing so hard I choked trying to tell Flo about it!  

Suddenly the line went dead.

Flo called me back in a minute or so.  SHE was laughing so hard, she could barely talk.

It seems that Flo was getting into bed and the whole, stupid mattress fliped over on top of her!  Apparently there were no supporting slats under it - just a light bed frame with the mattress "floating" on it.  WHAM.

It took a long, long time for each of us to catch our breaths.  Then we'd start laughing all over again.

We tied for first place that year for bizarre hotel experiences.  

Oh, how we laughed all the time sharing each other's lives.  I miss her more than I can say, but I will enjoy my endless memories forever... 

I love you, Flo. 

Grandsons Ethan and Payton accompanied Flo and Gary on a two-week tour of Japan in March 2012. At Kokedera temple visitors participate in a Buddhist ceremony before being allowed into the beautiful garden with hundreds of varieties of mosses along with koi ponds, cherry trees, and bamboo forests.

Flo loved the theatre. She loved to play. And, that girl knew how to have a good time.

At an Alliance for Nonprofit Management Conference a few years ago, Flo and I hooked up to catch up. We carved out some time to spend with lunch outside, comparing notes, talking about the sector, politics, our lives, music, theatre, getting older, and trends. Flo always had wide ranging interests, and a palette filled with many colors.

We had heard great things about "Menopause, the Musical," so the more we talked, the more we realized that we really needed to see that show. We decided we would take a few hours and “play hookey” from the conference that night - - if we could get tickets!  The topic and the timing both fit. So, off we went after lunch to check into the ticket situation. A few hours later, all confirmed, we were in a taxi headed for the theatre district. 

Of course, “Menopause” was everything we hoped it would be. We laughed until we almost rolled in the aisles.  At the end, the cast called us all up to join them in the can-can.  We came back to the hotel and the conference thoroughly pleased with ourselves. Sated from the musical and the laughs, we were revived and better equipped to face another day.

Flo

Our statewide nonprofit hero

We cheer you on an say, Bravo!

A teacher, mentor,  presenter

There is no one better

Be it Bingo or Poker

When it comes to legislative fairness she is our broker

With, Senators, Assemblymen and even the Attorney General

You wield your power and influence all so natural

Flo you are a visionary

You dreamed of a regional partnership

Mini CAN’s all through the state

We are your legacy there is no debate

We thank you for being our guide

Encouraging us and motivating us along the way connecting us statewide

It is because of you that we can all take pride

For nonprofits have a stronger voice today

Californiais a better place today

You are our statewide nonprofit hero

We cheer you on and say,  Bravo!


Patricia Gardner, Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits