Alice and Leslie Kandell: Donor Grants

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: NA

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Health & Human Services

OVERVIEW: Siblings Alice and Leslie Kandell and family move philanthropy through the Kandell Fund, whose grantmaking is focused on New York City. Arts is a top priority.

BACKGROUND: Alice S. Kandell graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1960. She is a child psychologist, author, photographer and art collector. Kandell is a daughter of the late Leonard Kandell, a developer and investor in Manhattan real estate for more than half a century.

Leslie Kandell graduated from Bryn Mawr College and Bank Street College of Education. She was a teacher and worked as a music and dance writer for the New York Times.

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE:  Related grants here are centered on the family’s personal interests, rather than a clear strategy. Grants remain in NYC. Alice is a longtime art collector interested in Himalayan culture. She worked in India as a photographer, capturing thousands of color slides, as well as black-and-white photographs. Kandell donated approximately 15,000 photographs of the former Indian kingdom Sikkim to the Library of Congress. Via their foundation, the family have supported places like Met Museum, Met Opera, Jewish Museum, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Frick Collection, New York Public Library, and Symphony Space.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Patriarch Leonard Kandell passed away primarily of cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Grantees have included American Cancer Society, Parkinson’s Foundation, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and City Harvest.

LOOKING AHEAD: Expect foundation grantmaking to continue to track with established interest areas.

CONTACT:

The Kandell Fund
59 East 54th Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 755-3063