Frank H. Foster

Executive Chairman

Frank H. Foster is the Executive Chairman for GTA. He provides advisory support on family governance and the development of the next generation. Frank leads the financial interests of the Hixon Family, a sixth-generation family business, serving as the Chairman of Hixon Properties from 2013-2022 and currently as Chairman Emeritus and the Managing General Partner of the Gideon Hixon Fund (venture capital). He also acts as a Managing Director of DFJ Frontier, a Draper Fisher Jurvetson-affiliated venture capital fund, and an advisory partner to Touchdown Ventures, the leading manager of corporate venture capital programs.

In addition to his responsibilities for the Hixon family. Frank currently serves a director of 5 companies as well as a special advisor to the board of Prolacta Bioscience where he had been Chairman and CEO. Recently, he founded and led the development of the Legacy Center at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School which will offer an accredited master’s degree program for the development and training of next generation members of family enterprises. He is also a trustee and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara where he led the campaign to build the Ridley Tree Cancer Center.

Frank received his MBA from The Harvard Business School and a BA cum laude from Harvard University. He has taught classes in entrepreneurship and family business at Stanford GSB, UCSB, Cal Poly, and Portland State University.