Gordon and Adele Binder

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Coastview Capital, Amgen

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Policy, Arts & Culture, Health & Human Services, Jewish Causes

OVERVIEW: Gordon Binder and his wife Adele conduct their philanthropy through the Binder Foundation, which, according to available tax filings, gave away around $1 million in 2017. Binder serves on the board of American Enterprise Institute, which has received the foundation's largest gifts lately. Other areas of interest include education and the arts. Most of Binder’s giving centers around Los Angeles and Massachusetts.

BACKGROUND: The son of two schoolteachers, Gordon M. Binder was raised in New Mexico and won a Navy ROTC scholarship to Purdue. After earning a degree in electrical engineering in 1957, Binder served on the aircraft carrier Intrepid and then received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Binder joined Ford and then Amgen, serving as CEO and chairman from 1988 to 2000. He later founded Coastview Capital, a firm that primarily invests in the life sciences sector. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Binder and his wife Adele split their grantmaking in this area between institutions in Los Angeles and Massachusetts. In Los Angeles, grantees have included Caltech, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Independent School Alliance, PS Arts, Baby2Baby, and Colburn School. In Massachusetts, they have supported several private schools, such as Dana Hall School, Dexter School, and Meadowbrook School. The Binders have also supported MIT, where Binder is a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation.

POLICY: Binder serves on the board of American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which has received six-figure gifts in recent years, by far the Binders’ largest gifts lately.

ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees have included Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Greater Los Angeles Zoo, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

JEWISH CAUSES: The Binders have supported Wilshire Boulevard Temple and Bet Tzedek, which provides "free, comprehensive legal services for low-income individuals and families in Los Angeles."

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Grantees have included Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Vincent Memorial Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Union Rescue Mission.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Los Angeles and Boston to remain prime giving regions for the Binders. It is unclear if their giving will rise in the coming years. 

CONTACT:

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

Binder Foundation
225 S. Lake Ave., Ste. 300
Pasadena, CA 91101