Bernard and Billi Marcus: Donor Grants
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Home Depot
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health, Jewish Causes, Arts & Culture, Military and Veterans, Georgia Community
OVERVIEW: Bernard Marcus and his wife Billi move philanthropy through the Marcus Foundation, which has given away more than $1 billion through the years. The family are Giving Pledge signatories. They also give through the Billi Marcus Foundation, which gives much more modestly.
BACKGROUND: Bernard Marcus graduated from Rutgers University, where he studied to be pharmacist. After graduation, he moved from pharmacy to retail and helped run stores. In 1978, he and his co-worker Arthur Blank got fired from Handy Dan, a California hardware store, and soon opened a rival retailer, The Home Depot.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Marcus Foundation recently gave a 7-figure gift to The Fund for American Studies, whose mission is "to change the world by developing leaders for a free society." Other grantees have included Georgia Tech, and KIPP Metropolitan Atlanta Collaborative.
HEALTH: The Marcus Foundation donated $15 million to establish the Marcus Stroke Network, a coordinated and collaborative effort among Grady Health System, Emory University School of Medicine, and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association to help reduce stroke disability and death rates in the Southeastern United States. In the early 1990s, the couple established the Marcus Institute in Atlanta, an affiliate of Emory University, which provides programs for children and adolescents with disorders of the brain, and their families. In 1998, the Marcus Institute joined forces with the Kennedy Krieger Institute to create the Kennedy Krieger Marcus National Foundation.
Other major grants include a five-year $38 million grant to University of Colorado Anschutz Medical to improve its programs geared toward military vets and their families and establish the Marcus Institute for Brain Health (MIBH) at CU Anschutz; a $20 million grant to what is now known as the Marcus Heart Valve Center, which is part of the Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare group; and a $75 million gift for continuing support of the Piedmont Heart Institute. In 2015, the foundation awarded two researchers at Duke University a $15 million grant to fund a study of the use of umbilical cord blood cells to treat brain disorders such as autism and cerebral palsy. Marcus’ interest in funding brain studies goes back further than that, though. In 2005, the foundation gave $25 million to launch Autism Speaks, and in 2012, it gave Boca Raton Regional Hospital a $25 million grant to create the Marcus Neuroscience Institute. Of the gift, Bernie Marcus said, “We have long tried to help those involved in caring for individuals with neurological disease or impairment on both a pediatric and adult basis.” In 2020, Marcus gave $80 million to the Shepherd Center, which treats spinal-cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions.
JEWISH CAUSES: The primary through-line to all of Marcus' Jewish-related giving is a focus on maintaining Jewish communities and Jewish culture, both in the U.S. and Israel. Support of youth development and education play a major role for this funder, with an enormous list of organizations that receive significant support. These include the Foundation for Campus Jewish Life, the Israel on Campus Coalition, BBYO, Birthright Israel, and a wide variety of day camps, Hillels, and Jewish day schools. He gave $20 million to establish RootOne, a program that helps to pay for trips to Israel for Jewish teens seeking a deeper connection to the country and their Jewish identity. Marcus’ youth development and education focus also extends to the youth of and from Israel. For example, in a recent year the Marcus Foundation gave a 7-figure gift to Friends of Yemin Orde, specifically earmarked for "transforming education for Israeli immigrants and at-risk children and youth."
More broadly, the state of Israel is a very signifiant cause for Marcus. In 1991, with the assistance of Israeli leaders and former Secretary of State George Shultz, Marcus helped cofound the Israel Democracy Institute, which self describes as "an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy." As Marcus Foundation Executive Director Jay Kaiman explains, Marcus "got concerned years ago not only about the external threats to Israel, but about the internal threats." The Marcus Foundation has given tens of millions to Israel Democracy Institute through the years and recently gave a $25 million gift to American Friends of Magen David Adom to build a new blood center—called the Marcus National Blood Services Center. Back stateside, the Atlanta-area is home to the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.
MILITARY AND VETERANS: Marcus created The Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to care for former military personnel with Traumatic Brain Injury or who suffer from post-traumatic stress, depression or anxiety. The Foundation gave $80 million to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a specialty rehabilitation hospital that treats veterans and other patients with spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. In 2021, Marcus gave The Gary Sinise Foundation Avalon Network $20 million to support cognitive health and mental wellness programs military veterans and their families. Other grantees include $1.5 to The Warrior Alliance, for a veteran community integration program, and $15 million to Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Marcus Neuroscience Institute.
LOOKING FORWARD: Now in his 90s, expect Marcus’ robust giving to continue. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away some $150 million. Marcus states in his Giving Pledge letter that he aims to disperse most of his wealth during his lifetime.
CONTACT:
The Marcus Foundation, Inc.
1266 W. Paces Ferry Rd., No. 615
Atlanta, GA United States 30327
Contact: Jay Kaiman, President
