Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund invests in visionary leaders and projects that have the potential to create lasting impact.
IP TAKE: The Fund does not accept unsolicited requests for support, but is open to contact.
PROFILE: Established in 1995, the Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund was created by venture capitalists Gary and Laura Lauder, co-founders of co-launched Lauder Partners. The Fund does not accept unsolicited requests for support, but is open to contact. The Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund invests in visionary leaders and projects that have the potential to create lasting impact.
The Fund focuses on social justice and educational entrepreneurial programs locally and nationally; national programs that utilize innovative methods to inspire Jewish life; Jewish community institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area; and leadership development programs via the Aspen Institute. The fund prefers to invest in entrepreneurial, strategic initiatives created by the Fund, capital grants for local Jewish communal institutions, and general operating and program support for key institutions in the fund’s fields of interest. Laura is chair of the Endowment Committee at the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. The Lauders are major supporters of Aspen Institute, where Laura is a trustee. They’ve been involved with the organization for decades, launching the Socrates program with an invitation to 350 Silicon Valley young leaders to come to Aspen and engage in a Socratic seminar.
The fund has also supported diversity and equity initiatives, and, in 2021, pledged a $1.5 million challenge grant over three years to the Center for Black Educator Development to support a project called the Black Teacher Pipeline.
While the fund maintains a website, 990 forms are not available, obscuring the full scope of annual grantmaking. Partners have included DeLeT (Day School Leadership Through Teaching and the Hebrew); Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2); and Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School.
The fund does not accept unsolicited requests for support, but is open to contact.
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