Resnick Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Stewart and Lynda Resnick move philanthropy through the Resnick Foundation, which has diverse interests that include the arts, higher education, K-12 education, youth, medical research public health, policy, global security, climate change and sustainability.
IP TAKE: The Resnick Foundation maintains a low-profile, playing its cards close. It tends to give a handful of very large grants, often to organizations with which they are affiliated or that bear the Resnick name, but this is not a hard and fast rule. This is a great multi-year funder to know if you can get through the door. Grant strategies here tend to evolve from the couple’s personal interests and often support the couple’s corporate foundation, the FIJI Water Foundation, but a handful of new faces make it to the Resnick’s grantmaking rosters. It is also unclear if the family, one of the largest farm owners in the U.S., will increase giving to climate and sustainable agriculture in the future.
The Resnick Foundation is not approachable. Its 990s clearly state that it will not accept contact, e-mails of introduction or telephone calls. This is not a transparent or accessible funder as it prefers a proactive approach to grantmaking. However, it is an important ally of various causes, especially security and policy work. It is unclear how to get through to this giving fortress beyond deep networking that occurs through back channels, if that.
PROFILE: Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Resnick Foundation was established by Stewart A. Resnick and Lynda Resnick, the couple behind the holding company The Wonderful Company, a privately-held Los Angeles-based multi-billion agribusiness global company that is behind such brands as Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Halos, POM Wonderful, FIJI Water, Teleflora and JUSTIN Wine.
They are the largest growers of pistachios and almonds and one of the wealthiest farmers in the United States. Born in Highland Park, New Jersey, the son of a Yiddish-speaking Ukrainian bartender, Stewart A. Resnick graduated with a B.S. and a J.D. from UCLA. Resnick served as President and CEO of The Wonderful Company for decades. Lynda R. Resnick grew up in Philadelphia in a Jewish family. She ran a successful marketing and advertising company. Resnick is vice chair and co-owner, along with her husband Stewart Resnick, of The Wonderful Company. The Resnicks met in the 1970s while Stewart was operating a janitorial service he began as a law student. The couple married and sold the janitorial business and purchased Telaflora, a flower delivery service. They then purchased Franklin Mint, a company that sells mail-order collectibles and was later sued by the estate of Princess Diana.
The Resnick Foundation has no public-facing presence or website. The foundation broadly invests in the arts, higher education, K-12 education, youth, medical research public health, policy, global security, climate change and sustainability.
Grants for Climate Change and Conservation
The Resnicks have expanded their giving to include climate change mitigation and clean energy is just the last few years. IP has previously reported on the Resnicks’ giving in this area, and it’s conflict of interests. It is unclear how climate change giving will evolve in future years. So far, environmental and agricultural giving encompasses on of the Resnick’s smallest areas of giving.
Rather than a clear grantmaking strategy in the climate change space, the Resnick Foundation has given a single, massive gift: $750 million to Caltech in 2019 for an energy and sustainability research center. As IP’s Michael Kavate notes in the same article, this climate grant is said to be the “second-largest commitment on record to an American university;” however, the couple has acknowledged the “gift could lead to research that will help the $8 billion couple’s vast farm holdings.”
That said, the couple has also given a $20 million initial gift to Caltech, creating the Resnick Sustainability Institute, whose mission is to “foster transformational advances in energy science and technology through research, education and communication.” In 2020, they donated $750 million to the school to tackle environmental issues.
In 2022, the couple pledged $50 million to establish the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation at UC Davis, where Stewart serves on the Chancellor’s Board of Advisors.
Conservation grants are fewer, but this could change. It remains to be seen if the Resnicks will extend their giving to sustainable agriculture as some of the largest agricultural landowners in the U.S. Past conservation grants include a seven-figure grant to Conservation International. Other grantees have included National Resources Defense Council.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Resnick Foundation’s grants for arts and culture are broad and lack a clear giving strategy; however, grants tend to stay close to the couple’s affiliated organizations and concentrate in the Southern California region. Lynda is a life trustee of LACMA, which has received millions from the couple. In the past, they appeared to particularly key in on LA Zoo.
Other grantees have included Los Angeles Opera; P.S. Arts; Farhang Foundation, which deals with Iranian art and culture; and Aspen Music Festival and School. Lynda is also a trustee emerita of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Grants for Higher Education and Youth
The foundation’s education grants are divided between clean energy and sustainability research that occurs primarily at UC Davis and Caltech, outlined above under climate change giving, and general giving. The UCLA Foundation and UCLA Anderson School of Business, Stewart’s alma mater, are major sources of higher education giving.
While much of the Resnick’s higher education giving concentrates in California, this is not a hard and fast rule. The Resnick’s corporate foundation, the Fiji Water Foundation, is another major recipient of education grants. Stewart, meanwhile, is a life trustee of Bard College in Upstate New York, home to the Resnick Commons. They’ve gave more than $1 million to West Point, also in Upstate New York. The couple has also established the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union at Fresno State University.
Other higher education grantees have included Drake University, Young Eisner Scholars and USC Annenberg School. In 2024, they gave $20 million to California Polytechnic Institute to establish the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center.
The family has business ties to the Central Valley and launched the Wonderful College Prep Academy, a “free public charter school serving grades kindergarten through 12.” They’ve also supported California Charter School Association.
Other grants for youth tend to focus on education, but are related to a variety of causes. Past grantees here include education grants for the Los Angeles Police Foundation, Safe Place for Youth, and People for the American Way, among others.
Grants for Health and Human Services
Grantmaking for health causes tends to focus on public health, as well as hospitals and substance abuse, among other evolving interests.
Stewart is a prostate cancer survivor. The Resnicks have directed millions to Prostate Cancer Foundation. They also has a strong interest in public health. The couple gave a $25 million to The Milken Institute, establishing the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Public Health. The Resnicks also gave at least $1 million to National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University and have steadily supported Bancroft, “a leading non-profit serving individuals with autism, intellectual disabilities and brain injuries since 1883.” The couple also established The Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.
Other health grantees have included Women’s Guild Cedars-Sinai, Hearing Health Foundation, and Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation, which received a 7-figure gift via the Resnick Foundation in a recent year.
Grants for Global Security
The Resnicks prioritize giving for global security, policy and public affairs work. They are heavily involved with the Aspen Institute, the international nonprofit think tank, where Lynda serves as trustee. The couple created a $15 million endowment to the Aspen Institute towards the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, an annual five-day event held in Aspen, CO, which “encourages its attendees to commit to putting their service ideas into action.” The Resnicks are also involved with RAND Corporation, and gave a $1 million gift to the Pardee RAND Graduate School to create the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Endowed Scholarship.
They also appear to be interested in grassroots and progressive organizations like Drug Policy Alliance, Equal Justice Initiative, Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade - Black United Fund, Youth Justice Coalition.
On a global level, the Resnicks gave a six-figure grant to Tony Blair Institute for Global Change recently via their foundation and have supported FIJI Water Foundation, which “focuses on providing clean water access to rural communities, building educational facilities and infrastructure that benefit children, teenagers and adults, and providing access to healthcare services to underprivileged communities.”
Grants for Jewish Causes and Israel
The Resnicks have also supported Jewish organizations like Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, American Friends of IDC, and Friends of Israel Defense Forces.
In 2022, it was announced that the Resnick Foundation would be establish the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Sustainability Center for Catalysis through a $50 million grant to the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The designed to empower faculty and students to uncover new ways to maintain global growth while protecting the planet for future generations. According a press release from the The Wonderful Company, the Center's activity will “strengthen the State of Israel and its economy and bolster the Technion's position as a global center of innovation. It will facilitate the recruitment of young scientists and promote research collaborations with academia and industry.”
Important Grant Details:
The Resnick Foundation’s grants can range widely. Typically, grants are from anywhere between $5,000 to millions of dollars. It offers general and operating support.
Giving prioritizes public affairs, global security and education.
Grants concentrate in the state of California, but stretch across the U.S., especially in New York and Colorado.
The foundation has also made grants to organizations that conduct work in China, Fiji, Israel and Kenya.
The Resnick foundation does not accept any contact, unsolicited applications or any kind of contact, which grantseekers should note.
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