Linda Pascotto

director

Linda H. Pascotto is a well-known philanthropist, an avid nature lover and a private investor. She is passionate about and very active in supporting various philanthropic activities and projects, particularly in the areas of health, education, and visual and performing arts activities.

Linda serves on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Opera and has been instrumental in providing opportunities for young adults to experience the performing arts, with particular focus on opera, theatre and classical music. She has recently involved herself in research that shows the benefits of music for individuals suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Over the past two decades, Linda, as a resident of Northern Nevada, has also supported several educational institutions in Northern Nevada, such as Sierra Nevada College, Nevada Museum of Art, Lake Tahoe Community College, the Reno public broadcasting station (KNPB) and the Reno public radio station (KNPR), as well as the Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe.

In the past, Linda served on the Board of Trustees of Viewpoint School in Calabasas, California, and is now a trustee emeritus for the school. Through the Linda and Alvaro Pascotto Charitable Foundation, she continues to review and make grants to various charitable organizations that promote specific cultural, social and educational initiatives. Linda also serves as chair of The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), whose mission is to promote Prem Rawat’s message of individual peace, well-being, self-knowledge and understanding, including through making available the Peace Education Programs (PEP) in hundreds of facilities worldwide. Linda has spearheaded TPRF’s Food for People (FFP) projects in India, Nepal and Ghana, which provides hot nutritious meals in the local cuisine to children and ailing adults in poverty-stricken communities.

Born in California, Mrs. Pascotto attended Girls’ Collegiate School in Claremont, California, where she graduated with honors. She continued her education at the University of Denver, where she received degrees in political science and international studies. After graduation, Mrs. Pascotto worked as a nature and wildlife photographer and cinematographer, filming extensively in places such as Glacier Park, Montana (when living in nearby Whitefish) and in Grand Teton National Park and throughout Jackson Hole (when living in Moose, Wyoming). She also enjoyed teaching still photography, especially on float trips down the Snake and Colorado Rivers.

Mrs. Pascotto created and produced many educational films and filmstrips until 1977, when she moved to Southern California, raised her two children, Seth and Graham, and participated in many of their academic and sports endeavors.