NET WORTH: $1.94 billion

SOURCE of WEALTH: Bloomberg L.P.

FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Arts & Culture, Education, Health

OVERVIEW: Tom Secunda and his wife Cindy signed the Giving Pledge in 2011, and now the Secunda Family Foundation appears to be ramping up, giving away several million dollars a year. Interested primarily in conservation and arts and culture, Secunda has served as chairman of the board for the National Parks Conservation Association and is still currently on the board. He also serves on the boards of the Manhattan Theater Club and the Intrepid Museum Foundation.

BACKGROUND: Secunda grew up in Bethpage, N.Y., and received both his bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics from Binghamton University. He started his career on Wall St. as a fixed-income trader at Morgan Stanley, and also worked at Salomon Brothers before becoming one of the co-founders of Bloomberg L.P.

PHILOSOPHY: In their Giving Pledge letter, Secunda and his wife Cindy stated that they believe philanthropy is a private matter, but that their actions set an example for others. They also said they believe in a mixture of large and small giving.

ISSUES:

ENVIRONMENT: Environmental conservation appears to be the biggest recipient of Secunda’s giving; the National Parks Conservation Association was receiving around $1 million from the Secundas on an annual basis, even before he served as chair. Other organizations, such as the Friends of Westchester County Parks, Wave Hill, National Parks of NY Harbor Conservancy, the Governor’s Island Alliance, and Scenic Hudson have received smaller amounts of funding.

ARTS & CULTURE: While Secunda’s largest contributions in arts & culture go to the Intrepid Museum Foundation, where he sits on the board, he also likes to spread the wealth around, supporting a variety of smaller cultural institutions in New York City. While he is on the board of the Manhattan Theater Club, for example, he's also supported organizations such as the Hudson Stage Company, the Jacob Burns Film Center, the Little Orchestra Society, and the Public Art Fund. And while most of the money stays close to home, he has supported the Opera Training Institute of Chicago.

EDUCATION: In addition to his alma mater and other schools with family affiliation, Secunda has giving general purpose donations to a number of schools in New York and a few that are farther away, including Johns Hopkins, Harvey Mudd College, and Northwestern University. The grants aren’t anything that is going to get a building named after them, but after a while, $50,000 here and $100,000 there really starts to add up.

HEALTH: While the Secundas have yet to unleash their fortune to tackle health issues in a major way, they do make modest donations to a variety of health organizations on a regular basis, including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the SLE Lupus Foundation, and the Foundation for Gender Specific Medicine. These grants usually range from $5,000 to $100,000, and are often recurring.

NYC COMMUNITY: Secunda has been a contributor to the Fund for the City of New York, as well as the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York. He’s also been a contributor to the Inner City Scholarship Fund, the YMCA of Greater NY, and others.

JEWISH COMMUNITY:  Though not as generous to the Jewish Community as many of his Wall Street counterparts, Secunda still makes significant contributions to several Jewish organizations, most notably the American Israel Education Foundation, American Jewish Joint Distribution, and the UJA Federation. All told, the Secundas have given at least a couple million to Jewish organizations.

LOOKING FORWARD: In their Giving Pledge letter, the Secundas state that they are looking forward to delving into new areas of philanthropy in the coming years, so we may see an expansion in their current areas of interest, but we may also start seeing larger contributions in areas where they have only just gotten their feet wet, such as health and education. Certainly, the influx of cash into their family foundation over the last couple years shows that they are preparing to start giving away more significant chunks of their money. And they’ll have to if they plan on fulfilling their Giving Pledge. Even a generous estimate of $25 million in total donations is still a far cry from the $750 million they are planning to give away.

NET WORTH: $14 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder, Renaissance Technologies Corporation

FUNDING AREAS:  Education and research in mathematics, physical and life sciences, autism research

OVERVIEW: A lifelong scientist, Jim Simons focuses most of his philanthropy in research in several scientific fields and on STEM education.

James Harris Simons--or Jim--has been described by financial industry commentators as a man who "would make a great fairy godmother." He does seem to have all the qualities: white-haired, lovable, and secretive, with wizard-like intelligence and a magical ability to multiply dollar signs. As one of the larger than life characters in Dark Pools, Scott Patterson's book on "how global markets have been hijacked by trading robots," Simons encounters some youngsters outside a restaurant who tell him they're using quantitative strategies to trade stocks. Simons, practically the inventor of those quantitative strategies, offers them a cigarette and friendly laugh, and slips away in a Bentley.

That anecdote is true, and Simons really is something of a wizard in the quant fund business. The 76 year-old founder of Renaissance Technologies--a hedge fund managing roughly $25 billion in assets--is technically retired. He's actually busier than ever, remaining "non-executive Chairman and a visionary for the [hedge fund's] direction" and heading the Simons Foundation, Nick Simons Institute, and non-profit Math for America. He is also a private benefactor for scientists and mathematicians, taking phone calls from string theorists in his Manhattan high-rise office. 

BACKGROUND: Simons was a math prodigy, completing his Phd in Philosophy of Mathematics from UC Berkeley at the tender age of 23. He was a code cracker for defense department and taught at MIT and Harvard before becoming chair of the math department at Stony Brook University--a department he transformed into one the top geometry centers in the world. In 1974 he and colleague Shiing-Shen Chern published research that would orginate the Chern-Simons form, an important theory impacting theoretical physics to this day. 

When he left academia in 1978, he had more than enough know-how to create computer-based mathematical models to analyze and execute trades in mere seconds. Renaissance Technologies has been the quant fund forerunner ever since, and the Medallion Fund is the unmistakable feather in its cap. The Medallion Fund uses only the personal money of Renaissance's executives to invest in world markets with computers and trading algorithms. To get an idea of how successful this fund is, consider that Simons calls 50 percent quarterly return "subprime"

ISSUES

SCIENCE: The foundation's Mathematics and Physical Sciences funds are primarily earmarked for theoretical computer science and theoretical physics, while the Life Sciences supports "research that promotes new synergy between the 'hard sciences' and biology." Recently the foundation has also starting funding brain research, as well as marine conservation. As of early 2016, Simons pledged $80 million to the New York Genome Center, agreeing to match gifts up to a total of $100 million over the next three years.

AUSTISM: The foundation's Autism Research Initiative aims to create better research in autism spectrum disorders to improve diagnosis and treatment. Simons personally meets with experts in each field and seeks out the best individuals and programs to fund.

MATH EDUCATION: Math for America (MfA) is a pet project that takes place under the Simon's Foundation's Education & Outreach program. Its mission is "to improve mathematics and science education in US public secondary schools by building a corps of outstanding STEM teachers and school leaders." MfA offers a range of teaching fellowships and professional development opportunities for STEM teachers at all levels of their careers. It has also contributed to legislation on public teaching and education. The nonprofit aims to be a national education model and give students nation-wide the best possible math and science teaching.

LOOKING FORWARD: Recently, Simons has branched out with a new initiative to research oceans as well as a big education give in Harlem. Simons has made just about every list there is to make. He is one of Forbes top-100 richest people in the world, and Bloomberg Markets Magazine named him one of the 50 Most Influential. He's also been called "the world's smartest billionaire," which is pretty hard to argue with. Visit the Simons Foundation website to watch a video of Simons speaking on his own mathematics career. 

VIDEO:

CONTACT:  

• Marilyn Simons, Ph.D., President, Simons Foundation, 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010, (646) 654-0066 

LINKS: 

• Simons Foundation

IP POSTS:

NET WORTH: $2.2 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder, Elliott Management Corporation

FUNDING AREAS: Education, culture, humanitarian missions and animal rights

OVERVIEW: Singer has a lot of money, and created a foundation, but thus far hasn't donated much to charity. Most of his philanthropy seems to go to political groups.

BACKGROUND: Paul Elliott Singer is CEO of Elliott Management Corporation, a hedge fund he founded in 1977 with the $1.3 million he gathered from friends and family. The Jersey born son of a Manhattan pharmacist, Singer now lives on the Upper West Side. Singer was born and raised in New Jersey. He studied Psychology as an undergrad, then graduated to Harvard Law. He was a Wall Street lawyer at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for just three years before going into business. His net worrth now sits north of $2 billion, and over $25 billion in hedge fund assets. When he's not overseeing Elliott's investments, or the directing the Paul E. Singer Foundation, he's actively involved in conservative political policy shaping. 

Singer is a complex figure, full of contradictions that have made him famous. He is a vocal supporter of Republican causes--who puts his money where his mouth his--as well as a gay rights activist. His gay son no doubt inspired him to take up the cause, and he played no small part in the passage of marriage equality in New York.

ISSUES

CONSERVATIVE CAUSES: Singer is a conservative libertarian who bundled hundreds of thousands in campaign donations for George W. Bush and Rudy Guiliani. He has given millions more to neoconservative organizations favoring a strong military. Most notably, he funds and chairs the board of trustees for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a rightwing thinktank interested in dismantling social programs and promoting free market principles. He's also on the boards of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and Commentary Magazine.

GAY RIGHTS: Singer started the American Unity PAC with $1 million in initial funding, in order to "enourage Republican candidates to support same-sex marriage." The PAC has an innovative strategy: provide a financial safety net for politicians who fear their campaign funding will be withdrawn by anti-gay groups. 

MISC: Singer's bold and creative tactics have kept Elliott's assets on the rise for over forty years. He's also applied that drive to philanthropy, founding the Paul and Emily Singer Family Foundation in 2008 (Emily is his now divorced wife and the foundation goes by the Paul E. Singer Foundation now). The Foundation created the Singer Prize for Excellence in Secondary Teaching, the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, the Food Bank for New York City, and the New York City Police Foundation. The Paul E. Singer Foundation gives over $50,000 a year to organizations spanning arts and culture, education, conservation, humanitarian issues, and animal rights. One of the Foundation's most notable ventures is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund.

LOOKING FORWARD: At the moment, Singer shows no signs of slowing down, having already been very active thus far in the lead up to this year's presidential primaries, no doubt warming up for the general election.

VIDEO:

CONTACT: 

• Paul E. Singer Foundation, bsinger@singerff.org 

LINKS: 

• Singer Foundation

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Dimensional Fund Advisors 

FUNDING AREAS: Education, arts (music) & culture, policy

OVERVIEW: Sinquefield cofounded and serves as president of Show-Me Institute (SMI). He's also a life trustee of DePaul University and serves on the boards of the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Missouri History Museum, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, and St. Louis University. His wife, Jeanne, is a director of the Neurofeedback and Applied Neuroscience Foundation, serves on University of Missouri's Steering Committee and is an active musician in the Columbia Civic Symphony Orchestra and the Folk String Orchestra. The couple also runs a center for chess and education. 

PROFILE: Sinquefield earned a business degree from Saint Louis University and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He went on to develop some of the nation’s first index funds and formed Dimensional Fund Advisors in 1981, which today oversees some $381 billion in global assets. After retiring in 2005, Sinquefield returned to Missouri "with the hopes of" as he puts it "using his experience and success to invest in more philanthropic ventures." His precise net worth remains undisclosed but is measured in the millions. 

PHILOSOPHY: Sinquefield told The Wall Street Journal in 2012 that his two main interests are "rolling back taxes" and "rescuing education from teachers' unions." His philosophies are perhaps best expressed through Show-Me Institute (SMI), a conservative think tank that he cofounded. Its tagline is "Advancing Liberty with Responsibility by Promoting Market Solutions for Missouri Public Policy."

The Sinquefield Charitable Foundation has been up and down with its philanthropy in recent years, giving out amounts ranging as high as around $3.6 million in a year to as low as around $760,000. At the end of 2013, the foundation had assets of around $1.2 million. 

 ISSUES:

EDUCATION: The core of Sinquefield's education philanthropy is revealed through the Show Me Institute, which has received just under $1 million annually in recent years. For years, the institute has been attempting to set Missouri education policy, producing materials claiming to show the benefits of ending teacher tenure and enacting vouchers in the form of "tuition tax credits." The general theme here is privatizing education and eliminating teachers' unions. Sinquefield has given also given least $925,000 to Teachgreat.org, which was organized to promote the teacher-tenure initiative petition. 

In 2007, the couple also founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, where newcomers can learn the game and gurus can compete in local and national tournaments. Sinquefield has also been a steady funder of his alma mater, St. Louis University and of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where Jeanne serves on the steering committee. The University of Missouri-Columbia received a large $1.4 million gift in 2013, while in 2015 they donated $1.5 million to the University of Chicago.

The couple has also been a steady funder of the Boy & Girl Scouts of America; Jeanne has a 25-year history with the organization, having served as a den mother, chair of a boy scout troop, a District Chairperson, and council board member.

ARTS & CULTURE: Jeanne, an avid musician who plays in several symphonies, appears to be key in this area of the couple's philanthropy. She has been involved in several projects in cooperation with the University of Missouri-Columbia, starting back in 2005 with the Creating Original Music Project and later the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The couple also recently gave $10 million to help create a new School of Music building at University of Missouri. As well, the couple have supported the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Shakespeare Festival, and the St. Louis Art Museum. 

HEALTH: Jeanne is a director of the Neurofeedback and Applied Neuroscience Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to Neurofeedback. In addition, she helped develop and fund the neurofeedback research for the treatment of autism at the University of Missouri.  

LOOKING FORWARD: While it's tough to get a handle on whether or not the couple's philanthropy is deepening, they're certainly passionate philanthropists with a few key interests. The foundation's website directly states that the couple "have dedicated their retirements to helping future generations." Education and the arts are a top priority. For K-12 education, Sinquefield's ideologies appear to be the guiding force. The couple's dedication to the University of Missouri, moreover, has served as the locus of a lot of the key areas that they're interested in—arts, education and health. 

CONTACT:

NET WORTH: $24.9 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Soros Fund Management

FUNDING AREAS: Democratic ideals, humanitarian efforts, economic development, education, and policy reform

OVERVIEW: Soros has probably put more philanthropic resources toward promoting democratic ideals than anyone else on the planet. Soros has made significant contributions to health, education, and humanitarian efforts worldwide. "We try to understand who is vulnerable, who is marginalized, who is oppressed, society by society, place by place," says Chris Stone, president of Soros's Open Society Foundations. Much of his funding for various initiatives through the foundations is conducted through Open Society's offices, which support individuals and organizations whose missions coincide with the missions of his foundations.

BACKGROUND: Born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, George Soros came from humble beginnings. He was lucky to survive the Nazi occupation of Hungary and the Battle of Budapest during WWII. He immigrated to England in 1947, where he went to the London School of Economics and worked as a porter and waiter. Eventually he decided he wanted to work in finance, so he wrote to every managing director of every merchant bank in London until he got an entry-level position. In 1956, he crossed the Atlantic, moving to New York City, where he worked his way up from an arbitrage trader and analyst to a vice president and investment fund manager. In 1973, he founded  Soros Fund Management and quickly became very successful, opening his first foundation in 1979.

PHILOSOPHY: Soros's philanthropy has largely been shaped by his early years. Growing up under authoritarian rule, he has shown an unwavering commitment to democratic ideals. For more than three decades, his philanthropy has been centered on building vibrant and tolerant democracies. "Reality is extremely complex, infinitely complex," Soros says. "We all face life with an imperfect understanding. Anybody who claims perfect knowledge is basically mistaken. Communism and Nazism were ideologies of this kind."

Key to Soros's vision has been educating the next generation of business and political leaders. His goal is to hold governments accountable and create social institutions that are open to constant improvement. "Mr. Soros is motivated by a sense of the possibility of human beings," says Leon Botstein, his friend and the president of Bard College. Perhaps most important to Soros's vision, however, is the independent structure of his foundations. This structure allows them to pursue their own visions, giving them a greater ability to address the challenges unique to their countries.

ISSUES:

DEMOCRATIC IDEALS: When Soros set up his first non-U.S. foundation in Hungary in 1984, most of its resources were spent on distributing photocopiers to universities, libraries, and civil society groups. The goal was to promote the free flow of information and ideas, a critical tool in weakening authoritarian regimes and transitioning toward democracy. A major component of promoting democratic ideals has been to focus on promoting higher education, though the foundations have supported talks and given grants for work on issues such as media freedom, freedom of information, and anticorruption efforts.

Soros has personally supported many organizations that engage in political activity both in the United States and abroad, including substantial support to MoveOn.org and American Bridge 21st Century.

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS: During and after the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the mid-'90s, Soros contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to humanitarian relief efforts. His foundations also support a variety of other related causes, including women's, LGBTI, and disability rights, discrimination against Muslims in Europe, international justice, and national security and counterterrorism. In addition, Soros has made major donations to the International Crisis Group and UNICEF, giving each $5 million, and in early 2016 donated $4 million to the University of Connecticut's Human Rights Institute.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Soros has donated more than $75 million to the Millennium Promise and Millennium Villages Project. The project is helping to end extreme poverty in Africa through a holistic approach, addressing issues such as education, access to health care, business development tools, food, water, and energy.

EDUCATION: Soros's focus on education goes hand in hand with the development of open societies. In the 1970s, he was providing funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa. In response to the collapse of Communism, he helped found the Central European University in Budapest, contributing $880 million to its endowment since the early '90s and serving as chairman until 2007. Soros also has donated more than $100 million to universities throughout the former USSR. He supports educational development in early childhood and K-12, but the majority of his support goes toward higher education and programs that support disadvantaged minorities.

POLICY REFORM: Many of the efforts that the Open Society Foundations support also aim for policy reform, particularly concerning minority rights but also in regard to drug policy.

LOOKING FORWARD: Soros's long-standing commitment to democracy and minority rights should continue to lead him into new territory, particularly in the wake of the Muslim spring. Also look for a greater commitment to initiatives addressing the influence of money in politics, an issue that is becoming increasingly central to maintaining democratic ideals in the United States—although don't expect that to curb his own giving, having rdonated $8 million to Hillary Clinton's campaign in early 2016.

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Caxton Associates, A.R.T. Advisors

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Justice & Human Services, Education, Los Angeles Community, New York Community

OVERVIEW: Aaron Sosnick moves his philanthropy through the La Vida Feliz Foundation, which gave away some $18 million in a recent year. Sosnick has ties in both New York and Los Angeles and outfits in these two cities receive a majority of Sosnick's attention. Grantmaking includes arts and culture, human services and education. Recent large grants have gone to the University of Southern California and New York Landmarks Conservancy. On both coasts, Sosnick has also been rather involved with issues of alternative transportation, the environment, and civic development.

BACKGROUND: Aaron M. Sosnick attended the now-defunct Wagner High School at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines and graduated in 1984. His father was also a faculty member at Wagner. Sosnick graduated from MIT in 1988 and joined Caxton Associates, founded by Bruce Kovner. Sosnick runs A.R.T. Advisors, a statistical arbitrage fund that operates from Caxton's offices. Sosnick keeps a very low profile and lives in Manhattan.  

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE: Aaron Sosnick, through the La Vida Feliz Foundation, has recently supported outfits such as Black Rock Arts Foundation, City Lore, "a New York City-based cultural heritage/folklife nonprofit organization," Creative Time, which has "commissioned and presented ambitious public art projects with thousands of artists throughout New York City, across the country, around the world—and now even in outer space," dance company Esse Aficionado, FIGMENT project, "a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines," Howl Arts, "a nonprofit organization dedicating to preserving the past and celebrating the contemporary culture of the East Village and Lower East Side," Municipal Art Society of New York, Make Music New York, Third Street Music School Settlement and Coney Island USA, "a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the cultural and economic revitalization of the Coney Island neighborhood."

JUSTICE & HUMAN SERVICES: Recent grants have gone to Centurion Ministries, "a secular nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to free and vindicate from prison those who are completely innocent of the crimes for which they have been wrongly convicted," Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters, Catholic Charities, Grace Outreach, which "serves low-income women of all ages who seek to enhance their academic skills, pursue higher education and find employment," Hester Street Collaborative, "created to improve the physical environment in underserved NYC neighborhoods," Project Renewal, "a New York City nonprofit organization that helps homeless and low-income men and women who often have a drug addiction [or] mental illness," Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, "founded in 1994 in response to the growing financial disenfranchisement of Upper Manhattan," Lower Eastside Girls Club, and more. Steady funds have also streamed to New York City's Robin Hood Foundation of late.

EDUCATION: Large streams of money have flowed to University of Southern California including $1 million in each of the past three tax years we have available. Much of this money has gone towards supporting Math for America Los Angeles. Sosnick has been heavily supportive of Math for America on the national level as well, and has played in poker tournaments to raise money for the outfit. Sums have also gone to CollegeSpring, which "partners with schools and community organizations to help students from low-income background," Corpus Christi School, Inner City Scholarship Fund, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Children's Storefront,  and Urban Assembly, "a non-profit organization that creates and serves a family of New York City public secondary schools."

LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY: Sosnick's philanthropy involves a number of outfits in the Los Angeles community that work in issues of transportation, civic space, and the environment. Recent grantees include Friends of Griffith Park, Friends of the Los Angeles River, Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, an "advocacy organization working to improve the bicycling environment and the local quality of life," Southern California Streets Initiative, and Longbeachize an outfit founded by Long Beach State students to "promote biking as an ecologically health conscious and invigorating alternative to local commuting."  In 2014, a $400,000 grant went to Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles.

NEW YORK CITY COMMUNITY: Similar philanthropy has taken place in the Big Apple and $1 million in each of the last three most recent tax years has gone to New York Landmarks Conservancy. Support has also recently gone to Fund for the City of New York, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Outstanding Renewal Enterprises, Recycle-A-Bicycle, Historic District Council, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and Transportation Alternatives.

OTHER: Sosnick has set up donor-advised fund via Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, through which tens of millions have flowed. This makes the full scope of Sosnick's philanthropy difficult to get a handle on.

LOOKING FORWARD: In his late 40s, Sosnick flies well under the radar, hasn't said much about his philanthropy, nor does he appear to be racking up any board memberships. In other words, it's unclear what direction Sosnick's philanthropy will take. What's clear is that Sosnick's foundation does have quite a large asset base (close to $433 million in 2013 and possibly even more now). This makes Sosnick a rather intriguing figure.

CONTACT:

The La Vida Feliz Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with Sosnick, but below is an address

NET WORTH: $1.61 billion

SOURCE of WEALTH: Farallon Capital Management, Hellman & Friedman

FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Alternative Energy, Education

OVERVIEW: Steyer is a huge proponent of alternative energy, as well as a strong believer in philanthrocapitalism, and directs his giving toward projects and institutions that promote environmental sustainability, and are also working toward commercial viability, primarily funding research and policy centers at the universities, and engaging in political advocacy. 

BACKGROUND: Steyer grew up in a Jewish family New York City, the son of a teacher and a lawyer. He attended Philips Exeter and the Yale before receiving his MBA from Stanford. He began his career on Wall St. at Morgan Stanley, then worked at Goldman Sachs for a few years. In 1986, he became a partner a Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, and also founded Farallon Capital Management, which now manages some $20 billion from high net worth individuals, college endowments, and foundations. He and his wife Kat are also founders of OneCalifornia Bank, now known as Beneficial State Bank, an Oakland-based community development bank. They also own the TomKat Ranch, which raises cattle that feed on native grasses, and is committed to environmental sustainability.

In 2012, Steyer stepped down from Farallon to focus on philanthropy and political activism, particularly pushing for advancements in alternative energy. 

PHILOSOPHY: When Steyer and his wife Kat Taylor signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, the couple stated clearly their philanthropic vision: to “harness wherever possible the power of markets to direct investment effectively.” He often uses his philanthropic dollars to shape policy, and calls renewable and sustainable energy “the issue on which we will be judged 100 years from now,”  adding that he "would walk barefoot over glass” to help the United States lead in energy solutions.

ISSUES: 

ENVIRONMENT: While Steyer and Taylor's largest gifts in have gone to educational institutions with which he is already affiliated, they have been driven by his passion for the environment, and particularly alternative energy. Their largest contribution has been to Stanford, where they gave $40 million to create the The TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, and another $7 million to create the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy & Finance, a joint program of Stanford's law and business schools.  The TomKat Center offers seed grants to researchers investigating both the science and the economics behind sustainable energy; together with Stanford’s Precourt Institute, it offered $2.2 million dollars in grants in 2013 to eight renewable energy projects. They've also given $25 million to Yale to establish the Energy Science Institute. 

Steyer has also made big donations to advocacy and policy groups that deal with evironmental and clean energy issues, including more than $5 million to help successfully defeat Proposition 23, which would have suspended laws aimed at greenhouse gas reduction in California. He also donated about $32 million to help pass Proposition 39, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act, a bipartisan measure designed to close a tax loophole for out of state businesses while creating clean energy jobs in California. 

He's also a cofounder of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, which promotes dialogue about creating a supportive business climate for advanced technology companies, mostly by funding political advocacy. The Institute, to which Steyer has donated $10 million, contributed over $30,000 in 2012 to PACs to promote—and, no doubt, shape—energy policy. Interestingly, though Steyer is known as a major Democratic donor, these contributions were bipartisan; in fact, the majority of backing went to Republicans.

EDUCATION: Much of Steyer's giving in education is an offshoot of his commitment to the environment. In addition to the major gifts to Yale and Stanford, Steyer is a Founding Board Member of The Center for the Next Generation, where he has contributed at least $15 million. The Center promotes sustainable energy, but also focuses on children and families, working primarily on educational policy.  He is also on the Board of Advisors at Common Sense Media, another nonpartisan group, which focuses on “digital citizenship” and provides educational programs for kids free of cost, usually run through local schools. The organization has received approximately $35 million in grants and contributions over the last 5 years, a significant portion of which presumably came from Steyer and Taylor. It also gives out a handful of grants per year, though the total amount has only been $100,000-$200,000. 

NUTRITION: The TomKat Ranch isn't just a sustainable business that produces environmentally friendly beef; they also have a philanthropic arm that underwrites healthy food programs. 

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Steyer and Taylor are major contributors to OneRoof in India, which provides access to computer technology for rural students and residents.

BAY AREA COMMUNITY: Steyer and Taylor have donated the entirety of their interest in the $22.5 million investment they made to found Beneficial State Bank to the Beneficial State Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to engage in educational and charitable activities that eliminate discrimination, encourage affordable housing, alleviate economic distress, stimulate community development and improve the financial capacity for individuals and businesses.

LOOKING FORWARD: Steyer is rather singularly focused on the environment, and we could see him become more active with major organizations pushing for climate change--particularly policy organizations. He has even made noises about running for Senate, and has said he would accept the position of Energy Secretary if asked. While he still has a long way to go to make good on his Giving Pledge, Senate campaigns aren't cheap, so while we don't expect Steyer to slow down his giving any time soon, he may be hesitant to commit too much of his fortune toward his philanthropic passion while a potential run for political office is in the cards. 

CONTACT: 

Hemant Teneja, Managing Director, Advanced Energy Economy Instittute, (202) 380-1950, contact@aee.net 

LINKS: 

Advanced Energy Economy Institute 

IP POSTS:

FUNDING AREAS: Jewish charities, education

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder, Talpion Fund Management

NET WORTH: $1.56 billion

IP TAKE: Henry Swieca loves to give to charities in support of his Jewish heritage, especially education.

PROFILE: Speaking to a new class of graduates at his alma mater, Columbia Business School, Henry Swieca said, “If you want to make it, take your career into your own hands.” A billionaire hedge fund manager who faced significant adversity as a youth, Swieca knows what he's talking about. He first turned to the stock market out of survival, struggling to pay for his education, as well as his brother's medical school. He went on to cofound Highbridge Capital Management and found Talpion Fund Management, and earned a spot on the Forbes Billionaires list.

Swieca left his first firm, Highbridge Capital, in 2011. He'd been with the $25 billion dollar multi-strategy alternative investment management firm since 1992, when he and his childhood buddy Glenn Dubin decided to go all in. They named the hedge fund after a an aqueduct that connects Washington Heights--their old stomping grounds--and the Bronx. The significance of this is felt when you hear that Swieca was born to Polish holocaust survivors who immigrated to New York in 1955. Both parents died when he was just nineteen, not yet a self-made billionaire. 

Swieca made his first stock market investments with a small inheritance from his parents. He kept tinkering with trades while studying science at SUNY Stony Brook and getting his MBA at Columbia. After putting himself through college, he worked for Merrill Lynch, was a founding trader on the New York Futures Exchange, and then joined Dillon Read. It was after years moving through the institutions that he and Dubin decided to take a risk. Before Highbridge, it was the Dubin and Swieca Group at E.F. Hutton. The returns on their pioneering investment strategies gave them the influx they needed to launch Highbridge. 

There was an earlier Dubin-Swieca business venture: while roommates at Stony Brook, the pair took over Dubin's grandpa's chocolate business. It was short-lived, but they didn't do too bad. Today, however, they have parted business ways, though not on bad terms. After JP Morgan Chase bought a 55 percent share in Highbridge, the founders knew it was only a matter of time before they moved on to new ventures.

For Swieca, the new venture was Talpion Fund Management. Talpion's name has quite a different origin than the aqueduct linking poor boroughs. It comes from Talpiot, a Hebrew word meaning a castle's turrets, or magnificently built. An Orthodox Jew married to an Israeli-American, Swieca chose another term with personal significance. It also spoke to the heights he'd achieved. Yet Talpion was as short-lived as the chocolate business. In Fall 2011, Swieca returned clients funds and shifted his focus to managing his family assets.

The Swieca Family Foundation uses the offices of Swieca's former hedge fund. You'll find very little information by googling the Foundation. The private grantmaking organization has no website, and there is no neat mission statement explaining it's focus, goals, or preferences. Instead, there's a small trail of beneficiaries like the Frisch School, the American Israel Education Foundation, and the ALS Association of Greater New York as evidence of the Foundation's existence. Under $1 million goes out the foundation's door annually.

Swieca has always been his own man, even during his 25 years as partner with Dubin. He wrapped up his speech to the starry-eyed Columbia business grads by saying, “Checking boxes and following a set career path was never my style... Look at your skills and what’s ahead for the market, then match what you’re good at with the opportunities that are out there." He follows his own advice to this day. 

Swieca is on the executive committee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby. His political contributions history is diplomatically bipartisan, with equal donations to the Obama for America and McCain-Palin Victory campaigns in 2008.  

CONTACT:  

• Esther Swieca, Director, Swieca Family Foundation,  65 E. 55th Street, Floor 34, New York, NY 10022, (212) 735-5377 

LINKS:

NET WORTH: $11.6 billion

SOURCE of WEALTH: Founder, Appaloosa Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Hunger, Poverty

OVERVIEW: One of the highest paid Americans in recent years, David Tepper has been a major contributor to education, particularly to schools with which his family is affiliated, and to fighting for education reform in New Jersey. He's also on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, and is particularly interested in fighting hunger. His foundation held $162 million in assets at the end of 2013, and gave out $5.9 million that year. 

BACKGROUND: Tepper grew up in a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, and attended University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his BA in economics.After graduation, he stayed close to his family in Pittsburgh and worked at Equibank before getting his MBA at Carnegie Mellon. After graduate school he continued to move between workaday jobs at Republic Steel, Keystone Mutual, and Goldman Sachs, before his career started to take off. At Goldman, Tepper quickly rose to manager of the high-yield desk, but after failing to make partner, founded his own hedge fund, Appaloosa, in 1993. Appaloosa now manages $12 billion in distressed debt funds, and is known for buying debt from companies like Enron, WorldCom, Conseco, and most recently a number of big banks during the 2008 financial crisis while they tanked.  The result has been that fund, and Tepper's personal wealth along with it, has been increasing by leaps and bounds in recent years,  making $3.5 billion in 2013 alone. He also owns a piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team he's cheered on since he was a kid.

PHILOSOPHY: When he made between $2 to $3 billion in 2010, Tepper began seriously planning his philanthropic strategies. He's not in a rush to give his money away though, and plans to get involved in charity work first hand so he can see what works, and what's a waste of resources. "It would be better if I took responsibility," Tepper says. Better, presumably, than blindly handing over money just to stroke his ego. Currently in his 50s, Tepper plans to shift more and more of his attention to charitable giving each year.

ISSUES:  

HUNGER & POVERTY: Tepper sits on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a philanthropic organization that raises money from hedge fund leaders and funnels it to New York anti-poverty efforts. He also is particularly interested in addressing hunger; his foundation has given $15 million to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, and made substantial grants to Feeding America.

EDUCATION: In 2003, Tepper gave $55 million to Carnegie Mellon, and they thanked him by renaming their business school the Tepper School of Business. In 2013, he gave the school another $67 million, bringing his total contribution to more than $125 million. He and his wife Marlene have also made large donations to the University of Pittsburgh, and given $3.4 million to Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of Arts, his wife's alma mater. He's been a major contributor to Teach for America as well, and his own Political Action Committee, Better Education for Kids, which is active in the movement for educational reform in New Jersey, advocating for controversial changes. Along with another hedge fund manager, Alan Fournier, Tepper made a $3 million commitment to help improve public school leadership in Jersey City in 2014. He has enemies in the state's teachers union and the legislature, but no plans to back off. "I'm committed to getting this done," says Tepper, and he's putting his money where his mouth his. 

HEALTH: Tepper has not zeroed in any single cause in the health arena. Instead, his giving in this area has been limited to token donations, generally in the $25,000-$50,000 range, to leading organizations that support research and awareness for a variety of diseases, such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, Ace Lymphoma, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The foundation's largest donations in this area have been to the Phoenix House, a drug abuse rehabilitation center, which receives donations of $100,000 or more on an annual basis. 

LOOKING FORWARD: If Tepper continues to make the sort of money he has in the last few years, he's going to have quite a large pile of cash to give away. And all signs point toward him doing just that before long. In his 50s, he's not in a huge hurry though, so it may be a few years before we seem him really start to uncork his fortune. When he does, expect to see efforts to improve education and fight hunger on a larger scale. 

CONTACT: 

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Vinik Asset Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Youth, Arts & Culture, Human Services, Religious, Health

OVERVIEW: Jeffrey Vinik and his wife Penny move their philanthropy through the Vinik Family Foundation. The couple was once rather focused on Boston where they lived but since they moved to Florida, the Sunshine State has increasingly been in the spotlight. The couple has supported education, including Vinik's alma maters Duke and Harvard Business School. Arts and culture and human services are other interests.

BACKGROUND: Jeffrey Vinik grew up in New Jersey and attended Duke University and Harvard Business School, where he graduated in 1985. In the world of finance, Vinik made his name running Fidelity’s Magellan Fund and later Vinik Asset Management. He later purchased the Tampa Bay Lightning and moved to Florida. Lately, Vinik has also turned to real estate ventures. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Vinik recently gave University of South Florida-Tampa a gift of land valued at $12 million. His support for alma mater Duke University included a $10 million faculty challenge fund to support professors who focus on "complex societal challenges such as engineering and related areas in energy, global health, brain sciences. and the environment." Funding to Meadowbrook School in Weston, Massachusetts, where the couple's four children all went, included a $5 million gift in 2012. The Vinik Family Foundation has recently supported Harvard Business School, Noble and Greenough School, Tulane University, Worcester Academy, Riverdale Country School, and Inner-City Scholarship Fund, among others.

YOUTH: Support has gone to Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Big Brothers of Mass Bay, Tenacity, which supports "underserved Boston youth with year round programs that combine education, fitness, & life skills", Right to Play, which uses the "transformative power of play—playing sport and playing games—to educate and empower children facing adversity," and Harlem Children's Zone. In late 2015, Vinik donated $6 million toward the "Build the Thunder" campaign, partnering with the NHL to expand youth hockey in the bay area.

ARTS & CULTURE: Recently giving has gone to Hampton Arts Management, a "nonprofit organization created in 2010 to develop artists and artistic communities in the Tampa Bay area," Museum of Science and Industry, Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, FL, Museum of Fine Arts Boston (which has received millions), Boston Children's Museum, Florida Aquarium, New England Aquarium, and Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa.

HUMAN SERVICES: Grantees include United Way Suncoast in Tampa, The Spring of Tampa Bay, whose mission is to "prevent domestic violence, protect victims and promote change in lives, families and communities," St. Petersburg Free Clinic, and Legal Aid of Manasota. He also pledged $10 million over five years to create the Heroes program, an initiative through the sports team Vinik owns, the Tampa Bay Lightning, to honor Veterans.

RELIGIOUS: The couple has recently bankrolled Idlewild Baptist Church, Jewish National Fund, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Tampa JCC & Federation, and Holmes Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association, which has received a steady stream of $1.25 million annually of late via the Vinik Family Foundation.

HEALTH: Grantees include Pediatric Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation. He's also donated property of his to USF in order for them to build a new medical school in the downtown area.

LOOKING FORWARD: In his 50s, Vinik has been a Renaissance man of sorts, with a number of different business interests. For now, Vinik has been increasingly focused on his new home base in Tampa, though this may change down the line. A few years ago, it's worth mentioning that the Viniks pledged more than $10 million through the Lightning Foundation over five years to support the Tampa community.

CONTACT:

The Vinik Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address and phone: 

NET WORTH: N/A

SOURCE of WEALTH: Founder, Wilson Associates

FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Education

OVERVIEW: Wilson, who had promised to give away at least 70 percent of his wealth before the end of his life, died of an apparent suicide in December, 2012, following a seriously debilitating stroke. Close friends reported that he had, indeed, come very close to giving away the vast majority of his estimated $800 million, mostly to conservation organizations. He also made smaller-scale grants to education and anti-poverty initiatives.

BACKGROUND: Wilson grew up in Detroit, and went to Amherst College in Massachusetts before returning to Michigan to earn his masters.  He also attended the University of Michigan Law School briefly before going to work as a security analyst. In 1969, he founded his own hedge fund, Wilson Associates, which specialized in short sells and growth-stock investments. In 1986, he retired with $225 million, though his fortune continued to grow from his investments, making him worth over $800 million by 2000. Turning to philanthropy full time, Wilson worked hard to give away at least 70 percent of his wealth.  He made BusinessWeek's 50 Top American Givers list in 2008, and by some estimates gave away more than $600 million. Not long before his death he proclaimed that he only had about $100 million left to give away. 

PHILOSOPHY: Wilson lived by his own provocative funding philosophy:

"We all know there’s no strategic plan that actually works, but you’ve got to have one anyway. By that I mean I don’t know when I will die. Most of my rich friends will probably end up fobbing off their wealth on a foundation that will be run by people who are not nearly as smart as they are and who won’t do what they want them to do. About 10 years ago, I decided that I would like to give away a lot of my money aggressively while I was still alive and not rely on others to do it after I died."

Wilson was openly critical of other rich folk's giving strategies, which he found unfocused and self-serving. He didn't want anyone else making decisions about his money for him—hence the urgency to give it away before his death. 

ISSUES: 

EDUCATION: It would be difficult to list all the organizations and causes Wilson has aided over the years. But there are several areas of focus that guided his giving habits. Recently, Catholic education topped the list. He gave $5.6 million to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in 2010, up from the initial annual gifts of $10,000 he started making 1997. Some were puzzled by his gifts, given that he was a self-proclaimed atheist. Yet Wilson was confident, stating that he was interested in improving the state of education in New York city. “Most of what the Catholic schools teach are the three Rs,” he explained, “And they do it better than the union-controlled inner-city schools.” He supports scholarship programs, alumni support, and the reopening of schools.

His interest in education stopped at grade 12. Wilson didn't give his money to colleges, citing his belief that "the whole college and university system is bloated beyond recognition and is a great drain on the resources of this country." He wanted his money to have a "meaningful impact," which he thought he could acheive by funding the New York Public Library, the shrinking Roman Catholic school system, and other institutions that open up learning to those who need it most. The Cardinal's Scholarship Program is a perfect example of initiatives he found worthwhile.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION: His primary area of funding—eclipsing even the millions he gave to schools—was conservation. He helped everyone from small environmental charities like Rare and they New York-based American Bird Conservancy, to high profile organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund. Just prior to 2006, Wilson created four $100 million challenge grants—one each with The Nature Conservancy, World Monuments Fund, Environmental Defense, and The Wildlife Conservation Society. These organizations represent a broad view of conservation, from plant and animal diversity, to historical sites and natural resources. Wilson explained that these unequalled contributions were driven by "the idea that but for my money, this building or piece of land or that animal would be gone."

ARTS & CULTURE: Wilson was known as an avid art collector, and was a member of the board of the Whitney Museum for over thirty years. He was also chairman of the board of the New York City Opera for more than a decade, though its hard to say how much he gave to either organization.

CIVIL RIGHTS: Though an openly gay atheist, there's not much in Wilson's record that indicates he was a major contributor to LGBT organizations, or organizations that promote religious freedom. He was, however, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union for more than four decades, and a strong advocate of criminal justice reform. 

LOOKING FORWARD: In the year before his death, Wilson put a substantial chunk of his remaining fortune--$47 million--into his charitable trust. The Trust made $40 million in grants that year, with nearly $50 million in assets still left to be distributed. Whether the money gets distributed quickly in large chunks, or the flow stems dramatically to ensure a small but steady stream of revenue for the organizations he was known to support, it is unlikely at this stage that we'll be seeing grants to new organizations. No word on his art collection either, but it would be surprising if it didn't go to the Whitney.

CONTACT: 

RELATED ARTICLES:

NET WORTH: $1.5 billion

SOURCE of WEALTH: Bloomberg, L.P.

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Culture, Poverty

OVERVIEW: Zegar’s largest contributions have gone to NYU, where he is on the board of trustees, but few organizations have seen more than a hundred thousand dollars. The Giving Pledge signatory seems to be ramping up his giving, though: In 2013, the Zegar Family Foundation held just over $119 million in assets, compared to around $51 million two years before. The foundation also gave out more than $3.4 million.

BACKGROUND: Zegar was born to a Jewish family of modest means in New York. His mother was a musical comedy performer and opera singer, his father a subway conductor. He attended Long Island University and then NYU for a masters in computer science. While working at Salomon Brothers, he met Michael Bloomberg, who offered Zegar an ownership stake in the financial data company he was starting. Zegar headed up software development for the company.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Zegar is on the board of trustees for NYU, where he has donated over $4.5 million through his family foundation. The Trevor Day School, presumably where Zegar’s children attended, have received at least $400,000. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Columbia University have been recipients of Zegar funds as well.

POVERTY: Zegar has supported the Modest Needs Foundation, a national organization that provides short-term financial assistance to individuals and families in temporary crisis, and are ineligible for most other types of social assistance.

ARTS & CULTURE: Zegar is a major benefactor of the Little Orchestra Society/Orpheon, having contributed approximately half a million dollars to the organization. The foundation has also made smaller donations to organizations such as the New York Foundation for the Arts, Figure Skating in Harlem, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Anne Frank Center, the Global Heritage Fund, and the National Parks Conservation Association.

HEALTH: The Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the Columbia University Medical Center, Doctors Without Borders, and a few other health-related organizations have received smaller amounts of funding.

JEWISH COMMUNITY:  The Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado has been a regular recipient of funding from the Zegars, as has the Society for the Advancement of Judaism and a few other New York-based organizations.

LOOKING FORWARD: While the recent donation to his foundation does indicate that he may be starting to ramp up his giving, Zegar seems content, thus far, to give out donations to a wide variety of causes, with seemingly little in the way of a cohesive plan or mission. In addition to the causes listed above, he has given a regular donations to an organization called Cradle of Hope that runs a number of adoption centers, and has also donated to causes like the Innocence Project, which seeks to overturn wrongful convictions. Poverty and children are two likely places we could see an increase in funding.

LINK:

• Zegar Family Foundation

CONTACT:

• info@zegarff.org

NET WORTH: $5 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Inherited, hedge funds, investments

FUNDING AREAS: Performing arts, conservation, New York

OVERVIEW: Along with his wife Leslie, Ziff has done his giving through a family foundation, and dance has lately been a growing focus. Overall giving is still modest and remains mostly local, but Ziff relatively young and has significant wealth, so is well worth watching. 

BACKGROUND: Daniel is the youngest of the three Ziff brothers who stood to inherit their family’s media empire. That is, if they wanted it. Which they didn’t. Though their father, William Ziff Jr., was understandably disappointed, he respected his sons' wishes to make their own career paths, rather than following in his footsteps. In the late 1970s, William Ziff Jr. learned that he had prostate cancer. By the mid-1980s, he began selling off pieces of his business, starting with 24 of his publications, which fetched around $700 million.

Daniel would go on to Columbia University and in 1992, before he was old enough to drink, Daniel and his older brothers cofounded Ziff Brothers Investments (ZBI). That same year, the brothers provided Daniel Och with seed money to establish Och-Ziff Capital Management. In return for their investment, they received a 10 percent stake in the company. Around the early to mid-1990s, their father was also making business moves, and decided to sell his publishing group to Forstmann Little & Company for $1.4 billion. The fortune from the sale was passed on to Daniel who was around 22 years old at that time, and his brothers Robert and Dirk.

A little over 20 years after establishing ZBI, the brothers began systematically shutting down the company. They began with ZBI's New York-based fund in 2013, followed by its London-based fund in 2014. The brothers recently announced that they were winding down the final components of their hedge fund business.

PHILOSOPHY: Though he’s engaged in philanthropy for over two decades, Daniel Ziff is not yet a major-league giver and it looks like his overall approach to philanthropy is still forming. He clearly takes this area seriously, though. Around 2000, Ziff established the Daniel Ziff Foundation. When he married his current wife Leslie in 2009, the foundation changed its name to the Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation. It had around $3.6 million in assets at the end of 2013. Ziff hasn't offered many public insights into his giving.

ISSUES:

PERFORMING ARTS: Ziff has been donating money to the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts since 1997. That year, he wrote a check for $25,000 and since then, these donations have increased pretty steadily, eventually landing at $1 million annually for a few years in row. Since his first $25,000 donation back in 1997, Ziff has donated more than $3.5 million to Lincoln Center. Lately, donations to the performing arts have become increasingly focused on dance. Most recently, the foundation donated over $1 million to the American Ballet Theater, $175,000 to Dynamic Forms Inc./Mark Degarmo and Dancers and over $200,000 to Polaris Dance Theatre. It should be mentioned that Leslie Ziff, who received her BFA in Dance, sits on the board of the American Ballet Theater and Rosie’s Theater Kids. The foundation recently made a $300,000 to Rosie’s Theater Kids, and also supports Sing for Hope, the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera.

CONSERVATION: Ziff began writing checks to the National Audubon Society in 1996, with an initial donation of $100,000. He continued his annual $100,000 donation to the bird-conservation organization for a number of years before tapering off his funding. Ziff has also been a supporter of Conservation International and the National Resources Defense Council.

NEW YORK: Many of Daniel Ziff’s donations stay close to home. Though the larger checks are written to Lincoln Center, Ziff has donated to other NYC-based outfits such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, New York Blood Center, Volunteers of America of Greater New York and Fractured Atlas Productions. Ziff has also given support to the Central Park Conservancy, American Museum of Natural History, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

LOOKING FORWARD: We'll be watching to see whether Ziff emerges to become a national funder who gives at a larger level. He certainly has the resources. A few larger donations outside of New York have been made in recent years such as $700,000 to the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, $300,000 to the Chamber of Commerce Foundation in DC and $150,000 to the Polaris Dance Theater in Portland. Otherwise, Ziff continues to follow a similar path of giving that he established long ago, making donations to large conservation organizations such as the NRDC and Conservation International and to a large number of New York-based organizations. 

One question is whether the Ziffs might also dabble more in education in the coming years, using dance as a vehicle to improve student outcomes. The couple's gift to Dynamic Forms Inc/Mark Degarmo and Dancers, for instance, established a 16-week dance residency at PS 142 in Manhattan for pre-K to third graders. They have also supported Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York ($175,000 in 2012) and Harlem Village Academies. 

Another departure from Daniel Ziff’s previously established philanthropy is the increased giving to health care organizations over the past few years, including NYU Langone Medical Center ($500,000) and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund ($25,000). His foundation also gave smaller amounts to the Health Advocates for Older People, the ALS Association of Greater New York and the Carter Burden Center for the Aging.

The Ziffs' foundation has no website, no publicly identifiable staff, and no process for applying for a grant. 

CONTACT:

The Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation
350 Park Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, New York 10222

RELATED PROFILES:

Dirk Ziff
Robert Ziff

NET WORTH: $5 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Inherited, investments

FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Education, New York

OVERVIEW: Robert Ziff is the middle son of the late William Ziff, Jr. Robert has two siblings, older brother Dirk and younger brother Daniel. All three Ziff brothers have been donating money to a variety of nonprofits for a number of years.

BACKGROUND: Though their media magnate father was reportedly “shocked” by the fact that none of his three sons wanted to run the family business after his retirement, the elder Ziff accepted the independent career paths each of them would take. Robert attended Cornell Law School, where he was the editor of the Cornell Law Review and graduated first in his class. However, he soon ended up working with his brothers in the hedge fund business at Ziff Brothers Investments (ZBI). After parlaying the family fortune into many billions, the brothers began winding down the firm over the past few years. 

PHILOSOPHY: Like his brothers, Robert Ziff doesn’t really talk about his philanthropy. But as with his younger brother Daniel, Robert Ziff began donating money to a variety of organizations at a relatively young age. And like both of his brothers, he has established a foundation that directs a portion of his charitable giving. The Robert D. Ziff Foundation has close to $8.5 million in assets and has made around $1 million in grants annually in recent years.  

ISSUES:

NEW YORK: Like his brothers, Robert Ziff’s personal philanthropy has a strong New York focus. Also like his brothers, Robert has given heavily to the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Among his first donations, was a $25,000 gift back in 1997. Since then, Robert has donated close to $3.5 million to the New York based performing arts center.

Robert has also recently donated $1 million each to WNET and THIRTEEN, which are both a part of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC). Other New York-based organizations to which Robert has made donations include the Robin Hood Foundation ($333,333), Central Park Conservancy ($100,000), Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York ($30,000), the Wildlife Conservation Society ($25,000) and Gay Men’s Health Crisis ($8,350).

ENVIRONMENT: Robert Ziff’s environmental giving is relatively narrow in focus with the majority of his donations going to the National Audubon Society—which, incidentally, is also a big recipient of donations from both Dirk and Daniel Ziff. Over the years, Robert has donated $500,000 to the bird and wildlife conservation organization at a rate of around $100,000 annually. He has also donated smaller amounts to the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), although those donations are far less consistent than those to the National Audubon Society.

EDUCATION: Much of Robert’s higher-ed giving is focused on his two alma maters—Harvard and Cornell. While attending Harvard, Robert played on the intramural hockey team for Dunster House. Of his experience, he said “We had one rule: show up and you can play. We lost almost every game, but we had a great time.” In 1995, Ziff made a gift to Harvard to endow the school’s intramural hockey program, saying “The teams have spirit, but they need basic equipment, and I wanted them to also have House jerseys, which make it that much more fun for everyone.” Ziff’s endowment helped to equip the over 125 undergrads that participate in Harvard’s intramural hockey program annually. A few years later, Ziff gave Harvard’s official collegiate hockey program $2 million to endow the coach’s position. Robert Ziff continues to make donations to the school, ranging from $25,000 up to $1 million.

Robert Ziff’s donations to Cornell are education-focused, rather than sports-centric. In 2008, he established the Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law. The endowment seems to be the only major donation Ziff has made to Cornell. Robert has made a handful of smaller donations to the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering as well as its Rackham Graduate School.

Ziff doesn’t focus all of his education-related donations on higher ed. He recently gave his first alma mater, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, a nearly $1.5 million gift. He's also given to the Browning School, a private boarding school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. 

LOOKING FORWARD: Robert Ziff’s charitable donations have been very consistent over the past few decades with very few outliers. The question now is whether he'll ramp up and professionalize his giving. He certainly has the money to do so. Meanwhile, his foundation has no website, staff, and provides no procedure to apply for a grant. 

CONTACT:

Robert D. Ziff Foundation
350 Park Ave., 4th Fl.
New York, NY United States 10022-6022

RELATED PROFILES:

Daniel Ziff
Dirk Ziff

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Greenhill & Co, Chief Executive Officer

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Environment & Animals, Arts & Culture, Health

OVERVIEW: Scott Bok and his wife Roxanne move their philanthropy through the Bok Family Foundation, which does not accept unsolicited proposals, and stays under the radar. The couple's philanthropy is focused on the Northeast, particularly Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. Starting in the late 1980s, Bok and his family began spending the weekends in northwestern Connecticut. The couple have restored a historic inn and farm in the region, and supported various environmental outfits. The couple has also bankrolled their mutual alma mater UPenn, and K-12 education.

BACKGROUND: Scott L. Bok received a a B.Sc. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1981, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Bok was a managing director in the mergers, acquisitions and restructuring department of Morgan Stanley, based out of New York and London. He also practiced mergers and acquisitions and securities law in New York with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. In 1997, Bok joined Greenhill & Co, an independent investment bank, and currently serves as CEO. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Both Scott and Roxanne are UPenn Class of 1981. Their son is also currently a Wharton student. The couple have steadily supported their alma mater over the years, including a gift to the Kelly Writers House and fund its visiting writers series. They've also bankrolled the Bok Family Professorship in the Humanities. The couple's foundation gave $2.3 million to University of Pennsylvania in the three most recent fiscal years available. Bok sits on the university board and on the board of Prep for Prep, a leadership and education organization for youth of color. The couple gave Prep for Prep $300,000 through their foundation in a recent fiscal year.

They've also recently supported outfits like Teach for America, The Chapin School, The Hotchkiss School, Student Sponsor Partners, and KIPP Foundation. The Boks have also supported the Cooke Center, which provides special education services, early childcare programming at Joyful Noise Trinity Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and Camfed USA, which provides education programs for girls and women in rural communities in Africa.

ENVIRONMENT & ANIMALS: The couple's work in this area is rooted in part in their experiences away from New York City. The couple has taken up residence in the Housatonic Valley region in Connecticut, and purchased and renovated a historic inn and later, a 115-acre farm. As Bok puts it: "Our farming operation derived from a natural love of land and wanting to protect it from development." Roxanne in particular has been strongly interested in horses, and even wrote a book about her experiences. Scott has been a member of the Berkshire Taconic Advisory Council of the Nature Conservancy. The Boks' foundation has recently funded Housatonic Valley Association, Nature Conservancy (which recently received a $400,000 grant), Wildlife Conservation Society, Scenic Hudson, and Sheffield Land Trust.

ARTS & CULTURE: The Boks' philanthropy in this category has focused on New York City, with outfits such as Roundabout Theatre Company, Museum of the City of New York, and American Museum of Natural History seeing support. The couple has also supported Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts; the Boks lived in London for a time, where they may have whetted their appetite for the theater.

HEALTH: The couple has recently supported the Fact Foundation, which deals with breast cancer research.

LOOKING FORWARD: Bok is only in his 50s and still very much engaged in business. For now, the couple's philanthropy is fairly regional, but their work in education and the environment should be watched carefully.

CONTACT:

The Bok Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:

LINKS:

Greenhill

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs

FUNDING AREAS: Global Development & Gender Equity, Health, Education & Youth

OVERVIEW: After retiring from Goldman Sachs, Connie Duckworth has turned to social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy. She founded Arzu Studio Hope, which empowers destitute women weavers in rural Afghanistan. Staring with 30 weavers, the outfit now employs hundreds of women. Duckworth and her husband, Thomas, who also worked at Goldman Sachs, move their philanthropy through the Kadrovach/Duckworth Family Foundation. The foundation's recent grantmaking has involved schools with personal connections to the family; it also funds outfits in the Chicago area, including those that deal with health and human services. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals and seeks out organizations to fund.

BACKGROUND: Connie K. Duckworth received a B.A. from University of Texas, and an MBA from Wharton. In 1979, straight out of business school, Duckworth joined energy giant Arco in Los Angeles. She then moved to Goldman Sachs, handling institutional fixed-income accounts at the firm’s Los Angeles office. Duckworth later moved to New York, where she helped build Goldman’s bond department. Duckworth made partner at Goldman Sachs and was the first woman sales and trading partner in the firm’s history. Duckworth retired from Goldman in 2001. She and her husband Thomas are based in the Chicago area. 

ISSUES:

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT & GENDER EQUITY: In the wake of 9/11, Duckworth accepted an invitation to join the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council. Her first trip to the region in 2003 moved her. Of the experience, she said, "That's when I met dozens of widows and children trying to survive frigid winter weather by squatting in the ruins of a bombed-out building. I was confronted with the reality that, but for the accident of birth, this could be me and mine. Afghanistan is one of the world's most tragic and seemingly inhospitable countries, particularly for women."

This background informs ARZU, which means "hope," an organization that Duckworth founded in 2004. The goal of ARZU is to empower destitute women weavers in rural Afghanistan. Staring with 30 weavers, the outfit now employs hundreds of women, providing access to education and basic healthcare, "seeding multiple micro-business start-ups, building community centers, pre-schools and parks, and creating award-winning, fair-labor rugs."

Duckworth and Thomas, through their Kadrovach/Duckworth Family Foundation, have also recently funded America India Foundation, whose mission is to accelerate social and economic change in India.

HEALTH: The couple supports the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation; Thomas Duckworth serves as vice president of that group, and is a trustee of the University of Chicago Medical Center. The story here is personal, as family members have been affected by the disease. The Duckworths, through their foundation, have recently supported Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Steadman Philippon Research Institute, which deals with sports medicine, and the Northshore University Healthsystem. The couple also established a chair at NorthShore University HealthSystem. 

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Recent grantees include Lake Forest Academy (the recipient of a $310,000 grant in the 2014 fiscal year), Trustees of University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, Academy for Urban School Leadership, Claremont McKenna College, and Investment for Kids. Several of these outfits have personal connections to the family. Apart from Duckworth's schools, two of the couple's kids went to Claremont McKenna College outside of Los Angeles.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Duckworth to stay laser-focused on ARZU in the coming years. A TEDx Talk Duckworth gave a few years ago is worth watching, particularly the idea that international development work should involve both the private and NGO sectors working together, rather than each operating in a silo.

CONTACT:

Kadrovach/Duckworth Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:

LINKS:

Connie Duckworth Linkedin Profile

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Atalanta Sosnoff Capital

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Media, Health, Animals

OVERVIEW: Martin Sosnoff and his wife Toni move their philanthropy through the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation, established in the late 1970s. Around $2.8 million moved out in a recent fiscal year. The foundation has a northeast focus, including notable support for the arts at Bard College. The arts are very important to this couple, who are avid collectors. Other interests include health and animals. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.

BACKGROUND: Born and raised in the Bronx, Martin T. Sosnoff earned a B.A. from City College of New York and an M.B.A. from New York University. He began managing money back in 1968 for the Rosenwald family, descendants of a Sears co-founder. He was director of research at Starwood Corporation and a research analyst at E.F. Hutton. Sosnoff founded Atalanta Sosnoff Capital, where he's currently Chief Executive Officer. He was also a Forbes columnist for many years.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Martin and Toni have been strong supporters of Bard College, where Martin was a trustee for 20 years. The couple's foundation gave $764,000 to Bard College in a recent fiscal year. Their philanthropy at Bard has heavily involved the Fisher Center for Performing Arts, the site of the Sosnoff Theater. Both Martin and Toni sit on the Fisher Center's advisory board. Sonsoff has also supported his alma mater City College: the City College 21st Century Foundation recently received a $250,000 grant. Other recent grantees include Georgetown Day School, Hofstra University (where Toni graduated with a degree in drama), and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Recent philanthropy at Hofstra supported a theater which was renamed in their honor.

ARTS & MEDIA: The couple has a strong interest in the arts, and are avid art collectors. Apart from their work at the Fisher Center, the Sosnoffs gave a $5 million grant to American Ballet Theatre (the highest ever to ABT) late last decade. The couple has been supporting ABT for more than two decades now. Art lovers, they've supported the Guggenheim Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut. Other important grantees include American Ballet Theatre, Palm Beach Opera, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theater Company, Signature Theater Company, and the Met Opera. The couple also has an interest in film and has funded Tribeca Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival.

HEALTH: Recent grantees include Mt. Sinai Hospital, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Alzheimers Association. The foundation has also been involved with Northern Dutchess Hospital’s new building program.

ANIMALS: Sosnoff is an active competitor in dressage, and Toni has maintained an active breeding and exhibition program for both standard and toy poodles for some 25 years. The couple's foundation has recently supported outfits like Potter League for Animals, Animal Medical Center, United States Equestrian Team Foundation, Dressage Foundation, and Take The Lead, which "provides direct services, support and care for people in the sport of purebred dogs who suffer the devastation of life-threatening or terminal illness."

LOOKING FORWARD: The Sosnoffs have been involved in philanthropy for decades. Expect them to stick with their established interest areas. The couple recently moved to Florida, however, which may emerge as another important region for giving.

CONTACT:

The Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs

FUNDING AREAS: Women's Equity, Social Justice & Policy, Arts & Media, Education, Jewish Outfits, Health

OVERVIEW: Eric Dobkin and his wife Barbara move their philanthropy through the Dobkin Family Foundation, which was established in the 1980s. The Dobkins have been laser-focused on women's issues through their foundation and Barbara has been prominent in progressive Jewish and women's philanthropy circles. The couple is also interested in arts and media, particularly documentary film that ignites social change. 

BACKGROUND: Eric S. Dobkin received a B.A. from Marietta College in 1964 and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1967. Dobkin joined Goldman Sachs in institutional equity sales in Philadelphia, and in the early 1970s, relocated to Chicago, and became the manager of institutional sales. Dobkin was elected a general partner in 1982 and retired as partner in 1998.

ISSUES:

WOMEN'S EQUITY: The Dobkins have been laser-focused on women's issues and social change through their Dobkin Family Foundation. The forces here strongly involve Barbara Dobkin. She's been involved with a number of women's organizations including Ma’yan, an outfit she founded which "provides feminist, social justice, and leadership training to teen girls and teaches vital skills to parents and educators," and Jewish Women’s Archive, which she also founded. Recent grantees include New York Women's Foundation, MS Foundation for Women, Global Fund for Women, Women's Sports Foundation,  Advancing Women Professionals, Hollaback!, Jewish Woman's Archive, and Re:Gender, formerly known as National Council for Research on Women. 

SOCIAL JUSTICE & POLICY:  The Dobkins are also interested in social justice issues. They've recently funded organizations such as San Francisco Organizing Project, Immigration Equality, Correctional Association of New York, Bend the Arc, which "engages people and communities throughout the United States in creating economic opportunity and promoting social justice," and Grassroots Leadership, which "works with communities across this nation to abolish for-profit private prisons, jails, and detention centers." The couple has also funded left of center policy outfits such as the Roosevelt Institute and Political Research Associates, which studies the right wing. 

ARTS & MEDIA: Dobkin and Barbara have also funded arts and media outfits. They have an interest in film, particularly documentary films that might inspire social change. Recent grantees include Museum of Arts and Design, which received a $500,000 grant in a recent fiscal year, American Film Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, Shine Global, a nonprofit "production company dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of children through films and media, "Working Films, a "national, nonprofit organization available to all independent filmmakers and community organizers," and Chicken & Egg Pictures, which is dedicated to supporting women nonfiction filmmakers whose diverse voices and dynamic storytelling have the power to catalyze change, at home and around the globe." Barbara has also been involved with Impact Partners, which provides funding and guidance to films that highlight pressing social issues.

EDUCATION: The Dobkins have steadily supported their mutual undergraduate alma mater Marietta College. The school received a $100,000 grant in a recent fiscal year. Last decade, gifts of more than $1 million went to the school. Another significant grantee here is School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, where Dobkin sits on the board. The outfit received a $200,000 grant in a recent fiscal year. Other recent grantees include Hebrew Union College, Goucher College, Harlem Village Academies, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, and Girls Athletic Leadership Schools.

JEWISH OUTFITS: Barbara Dobkin is the former chair of the board of American Jewish World Service (AJWS),an outfit the couple has been funding since 2000. AJWS is a "nonprofit organization dedicated to providing nonsectarian humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to disadvantaged people worldwide." Some of this work has also involved girls and women. The couple through their foundation gave a $1 million grant to AJWS in a recent fiscal year. The Dobkins have also recently funded outfits such as Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, Ma'Yan/JCC of Manhattan, National Council of Jewish Women, and New Israel Fund.

HEALTH: The couple's health philanthropy hasn't involved a lot of granteees of late, but the Dobkins have recently supported Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT & Harvard, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and St. Johns Hospital Foundation.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the Dobkins to stay laser-focused on women's issues and progressive causes. The couple's daughter Rachel, a lawyer and writer, should also be watched.

CONTACT:

Dobkin Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple but below is an address

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Education & Youth, Women's Organizations

OVERVIEW: Anne Kaplan and her husband Robert Fippinger, a lawyer, move their philanthropy through the Frances Alexander Foundation, which has given around $400,000 in recent fiscal years. The couple has funded arts and culture outfits, primarily in New York City. They've also supported education. Kaplan and Robert also support women's organizations and Kaplan has a particular interest in wealth management for women.

BACKGROUND: Ann F. Kaplan holds a B.A. from Smith College and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Kaplan joined Goldman Sachs in 1977, going on to head the municipal bond department. She also made partner. In 2003, she stepped into her role as CEO of Financial Circle Group, a wealth management membership organization. Kaplan is also a partner of Circle Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm.

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE: Ann Kaplan sits on the board of Museum of Arts & Design, and her husband Robert used to be chairman of the board of the American Symphony Orchestra. The couple through their foundation have recently supported arts and culture outfits such as The Met, which received a $100,000 grant recently, Museum of Arts & Design, Actors Fund of America, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, American Ballet Theatre,New York Public Library, and The Paley Center for Media. 

A component of the couple's philanthropy here also involves historic preservation. Robert is president emertius of the board of the Maine Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The couple has recently funded outfits like New-York Historical Society Museum and Library, Smithsonian Archives of American Art, and One East Sixtieth Historical Foundation.

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Kaplan and Robert's philanthropy in this area through their foundation hasn't been overwhelming of late, but they've recently funded Smith College, Hunter College Foundation, Lehigh University, Harlem Children's Zone, and Prep for Prep, among others. 

WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS: Kaplan and Robert through their foundation have recently supported women's organizations such as Women's Forum of New York, Women's Refugee Commission, Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media, National Council for Research on Women, MS Foundation for Women, and Jewish Women's Archives, which chronicles and transmits the achievements of Jewish women. Kaplan has also been interested in promoting wealth management for women and was once on the board of LearnVest, a financial planning company founded by a Harvard alumna. Kaplan was a big seed investor of the company. She also helped fund a Women's Financial Education Program at her alma mater Smith.

LOOKING FORWARD: It's unclear how much Kaplan and Robert are worth, but expect their philanthropy to stick with their established areas.

CONTACT:

The Frances Alexander Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple but below is an address

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs; TPG Capital

FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Other

OVERVIEW: Timothy Dattels and his wife Kristine move their philanthropy through the Kingfisher Foundation, which focuses on helping to restore healthy marine ecosystems through sound fisheries management. Kristine serves as executive director of the foundation. Kingfisher does not accept unsolicited proposals, and its website provides limited information about recent grants.

BACKGROUND: Timothy David Dattels received his bachelor's degree from University of Western Ontario, and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He started at Wood Gundy in Toronto, and later moved to Goldman Sachs in the 1990s where he served as partner and managing director. Dattels joined TPG Capital in 2004. He currently serves as partner and co-head of Asian business. 

ISSUES:

ENVIRONMENT: The Dattels family founded the Kingfisher Foundation in 1998. Kingfisher's goal is to "restore and preserve the health and resilience of marine fish populations through the reduction or elimination of illegal, destructive and economically unviable fishing practices." Kristine serves as executive director of Kingfisher and serves on such boards as Sustainable Conservation, a California organization, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Kingfisher is particularly interested in projects that combine "sound scientific, economic, social, and political realities and have a potential conservation impact substantially exceeding the amount of time and capital invested." The foundation's conservation work currently involves the pacific coast of the United States, and Pacific tropical coral reef fisheries. Recent foundation grantees include Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund (the recipient of a recent $300,000 grant),Defenders of Wildlife, Blue Ridge Center in Virginia, and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, located outside San Francisco's Golden Gate surrounding the Gulf of the Farallones. Kingfisher has also recently supported University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

OTHER: Dattels and Kristine have supported Kristine's undergraduate alma mater Whitman College, helping fund athletics at the school. They've also funded Dattels' school, University of Western Ontario,  and Pitzer College in suburban Los Angeles. The couple are Pitzer parents. Dattels and Kristine also have an interest in the arts and have recently supported outfits like Asian Art Museum, Merola Opera, San Francisco Ballet. Dattels is a trustee of SFJAZZ.

LOOKING FORWARD: Dattels is only in his 50s and still very much engaged in business but the couple's conservation work should be watched carefully.

LINK: Kingfisher Foundation