Los Angeles’ Most Charitable Couples

Some of LA’s most generous couples are having a pronounced impact on the region through their support of the arts, education, health care, and social issues

Eli and Edythe Broad

The Broad Foundations, which include The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation, have assets of $2.1B. A snapshot of the Broads’ charitable impact throughout the years reveals significant support given to the arts and education. Highlights include a $10mm commitment to Pitzer College (in 1970), a $23.2mm gift to open the Broad Art Center at UCLA (in 2000), a $100mm founding gift to create the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (in 2003), and a $30mm challenge grant to MOCA, rebuilding the museum’s endowment (in 2008). In 2009, a $400mm endowment gift to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard made the institution a permanent fixture. The Broad Institute is now the leading genomic medicine institute, with an annual research budget of $287mm.

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Rick and Tina Caruso

Since creating the Rick and TIna Caruso Family Foundation in 1991, the Carusos have supported local organizations such as Para Los Niños, Operation Progress, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Foundation, and more. In 2013, the Foundation announced a $5mm donation to social and education programs through Operation Progress in the city of Watts, supporting local programs for a decade. In June, the Carusos personally donated $25mm to endow and name the Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology at USC. The department was already one of the nation’s largest and most highly ranked for research and treatment of diseases of the ear, nose, and throat.

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Tony and Jeanne Pritzker

The Pritzker name has a lofty legacy, and Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker are enriching it further through their philanthropic deeds. Jeanne founded Foster Care Counts in 2008 to support foster youths who age out of the system when they become adults. To date, the organization has provided more than $300,000 in grants to 30 community-based organizations in Los Angeles. The Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Foundation donated $20mm to UCLA in 2013, a gift that would support the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, endow the Pritzker DIstinguished Chair in Environment and Sustainability, provide a $3mm endowment for UCLA students who went through foster care, and set aside $2mm to the HAMMER Museum to support children- and family-based exhibits.

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Stewart and Lynda Resnick

One need look no further than Los Angeles County Museum of Art to recognize the deep impact that Stewart and Lynda Resnick have had in the arts community. The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion opened in 2010, made possible by the couple’s $45mm donation to the institution in 2008, augmented by an additional $10mm art gift donated that same year. The Resnicks’ charitable efforts also extend into health care and education. In 2006, the pair gifted $4mm to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; in 2009, they donated $21mm to establish the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech and in 2014 donated an additional $15mm to create new endowments.

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Haim and Cheryl Saban

Haim and Cheryl Saban and the Saban Family Foundation have contributed close to $47mm to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In addition, the pair has supported a wide range of causes, including William J. Clinton Foundation, LA Free Clinic (a $10mm endowment in 2008), and created the  Saban Center for Middle East Policy in 2002 with an initial grant of $13mm. In 2009, Cheryl Saban formed the Cheryl Saban Self-Worth Foundation for Women and Girls, pledging $10mm toward women’s causes.

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Terry and Jane Semel

Terry and Jane Semel put their stamp on the region in 2004 when they donated $25mm to UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, earning naming rights in the process. Today, the Institute continues to generate fundraising dollars. At a Friends of the Semel Institute gala in April, more than $1mm was raised for the Friends Scholar Program, supporting the research of young scientists at the Semel Institute working to develop innovative treatments for mental and neurological disorders.

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