Boston Philanthropists Flashcards
Jack Connors
Background: All Purpose Power Broker
Net Worth: $500 million
Source of Wealth: Advertising
Residence: Brookline, MA
Notes: Led the $62 million drive for the Campaign for Catholic Schools (2012) after reconciling with the Archdiocese of Boston related to the sex abuse scandal. Was a driving force behind the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s. Board membership includes Connor Family Foundation, Boston College, Camp Harbor View, Harvard School of Public Health, and Partners in Health.
Peter & Carolyn Lynch
Background: Philanthropists
Net Worth: $352 million
Source of Wealth: Investments
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Gave $20 million to Boston College in 2010. Peter retired in 1990 (at 46) to dedicate himself to philanthropy. Were one of the first funders for Teach for America, and raised/donated millions to the local Campaign for Catholic Schools. Board membership includes Lynch Foundation, Boston College, Catholic Schools Foundation, Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows, New England Conservatory, Peabody Essex Museum.
Paul Grogran
Background: President/CEO, the Boston Foundation
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Directed $88 million to nonprofits in 2012. Considered Boston’s ‘moral conscience’, focusing on issues of charter schools, gangs, and how to improve life for city residents. Board memberships include Brandeis University, New Profit, CEOs for Cities.
John Fish
Background: Chairman/CEO, Suffolk Construction
Net Worth: $425 million
Source of Wealth: Construction
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Oversaw $6.4 million in nonprofit grants in 2011. Board memberships include Red & Blue Foundation, Boston College, Boston Scholar Athletes, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Catholic Schools Foundation, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Salvation Army.
Joseph (& Katherine) O’Donnell
Background: Businessman; Philanthropist
Net Worth: $725 million
Source of Wealth: Concessions, advertising
Residence: Osterville, MA
Notes: Gave $30 million to Harvard in 2012. Have a deep commitment to biotech philanthropy; since the death of the 12-year-old some Joey from cystic fibrosis in 1986, they have raised more than $250 million for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Board memberships include Joey O’Donnell Foundation Trust, and Harvard Corporation.
Joyce Linde
Background: Philanthropist
Net Worth: $546 million
Source of Wealth: Real estate (Ed Linde)
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Funded the MFA’s $12.5 million contemporary art wing, which opened in 2011. Her husband (Ed) was also very active in philanthropy until his death in 2010. Board memberships include Linde Family Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Park School, and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Barbara Lee
Background: Philanthropist
Net Worth: $213 million
Source of Wealth: Divorce settlement from buyout king Tom Lee
Residence: Cambridge, MA
Notes: Gave a seven-figure donation to the ICA to endow the chief curator position in 2012. Is best known for her political activism, having provided training, raising campaign funds, sponsoring research, and mobilizing voters to help elect women to office both locally and nationally. Was a prominent supporter of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Board memberships include Barbara Lee Family Foundation, Institute of Contemporary Art, Emerge Massachusetts, Women’s Leadership Board of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Ted Cutler
Background: Arts Patron
Net Worth: Unknown
Source of Wealth: Music booking agency
Residence: Dorchester, MA
Notes: Cochaired the $35 million drive for the new Greater Boston Food Bank building, which opened in 2009. Led the effort to turn Emerson College into a hub for the arts world. Is creating Outside the Art, a citywide arts festival.
Carl Shapiro
Background: Philanthropist
Net Worth: Unknown at this time
Source of Wealth: Kay Windsor dress business
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Gave $42 million to Dana-Farber and Boston Medical Center in 2008. Donated over $100 million to healthcare charities in over the past ten years. Was a major victim of the Madoff scandal, paying $625 million in 2010 to settle claims, which wiped out most of the family’s fortune. However, the family foundation still has assets of $79 million and continues its philanthropy. Board member of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation.
John Barros
Background: Executive Director, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Leveraged $6 million in education-based federal grants into $70 million in aligned funding from public and private organizations, including partnerships with 80 different groups. Board member of Dudley Street Neighborhood Iniative.
Catherine D’Amato
Background: President/CEO, the Greater Boston Food Bank
Residence: Boston, MA
Notes: Oversaw the food bank’s $35 million capital campaign in 2009. Is credited with elevating the GBFB from a respectable organization ($14.7 million in revenue) into one of the country’s most prominent hunger organizations ($66.6 million in revenues). Board memberships include The Boston Foundation and Massachusetts Food Association.
Gerald Chertavian
Background: Founder and CEO, Year Up
Residence: Cambridge, MA
Notes: Raised $46.4 million in 2011 and is credited with the stunning success of Year Up (job training and college preparedness for low-income youth) – 84% of alumni were employed or attending college within four months of graduating from the program. Board memberships include Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, and Massachusetts State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Joanna Jacobson
Background: Founder/Managing Partner, Strategic Grant Partners
Residence: Unknown
Notes: Facilitated the giving of $5.1 million in grants in 2011. Is the go-to resource used by high-profile Boston investors to help discover and fund some of the area’s best nonprofits.
Peter Slavin
Background: President, Massachusetts General Hospital
Residence: Unknown
Notes: Raised $1.4 billion for MGH between 2005 and 2012, two-thirds of which was accomplished in the first 5 years before going public with the campaign. Board memberships include Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Hospital Association, and MIT.
Ted Kelly
Background: Chairman, Liberty Mutual
Residence: Weston, MA
Notes: Leads fundraising to cover BSO’s $20 million annual budget gap as BSO’s board chairman.
Malcolm Rogers
Background: Director, Museum of Fine Arts
Residence: Brookline, MA
Notes: Led a $504 million campaign that funded a new wing, which opened in 2010. This was the museum’s first addition since 1981.
Joyce Wallace Benjamin
Background: President/CEO, The Home for Little Wanderers
Residence: Unknown
Notes: Raised $8.2 million in 2011 while relocating the nonprofit from Jamaica Plain to Walpole.
Vanessa Kirsch
Background: Founder and Managing Director, New Profit
Residence: Brookline, MA
Notes: Oversaw $10.7 million in donations to charities in 2011 through her role as an investment manager.
Susan Paresky
Background: Senior VP for Development and the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Residence: Unknown
Notes: Credited for raising the Cancer Institute’s annual gifts from $30M to $200M and leading the Jimmy Fund, which is perhaps the state’s best known charity.
