Adam Usdan and Andrea Pollack

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Trellus Management Company

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health, Arts & Culture

OVERVIEW: Adam Usdan and his family conduct philanthropy through the Hanna and Matthew Usdan Foundation, which available tax filings indicate, awarded around $465,000 in grants in 2017. Usdan, the brother of John Usdan, has made big gifts with the rest of the family to his alma mater Wesleyan University. Other interests include health.

BACKGROUND: Adam Usdan graduated with a B.A. in English from Wesleyan University in 1983 and later received an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Usdan began his investment career in 1987 at Odyssey Partners, where he was responsible for managing long/short U.S. equity (small to mid-cap) pools of capital. In 1994 he founded Trellus Management Company, an equity hedge fund.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Adam Usdan and his brother John made the lead gift to construct the Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center at Wesleyan, in honor of their mother. The extended family has donated millions to Wesleyan, where Usdan serves on the board and where John served on the board for more than a decade. Adam and his wife Andrea are supporters of Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, also named for Usdan’s mother.

Usdan, via his foundation, has supported University of Pennsylvania, where Andrea graduated, as well as the Kellogg School of Management, American Camp Association, The Option Institute, and The Cooke Center for Learning and Development, which provides education services to children with disabilities. A component of the family’s philanthropy seems to center around special education.

HEALTH: Grantees have included Stamford Hospital Foundation, Maine Medical Center, and New York Collaborates for Autism. Usdan is on the board of Jonas Philanthropies, whose mission includes “promoting leadership in nursing and veteran’s healthcare, preventing and treating low vision and blindness, and protecting our children’s environmental health.”

ARTS & CULTURE: The Usdans have supported Portland Museum, New York Public Library, and Sonnet Repertory Theatre.

OTHER: The family has supported Jewish outfits Park Avenue Synagogue and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. Usdan is on the Jewish Board for Children and Family Services. A component of the family’s giving seems to concern environmental and animal organizations, as Usdan owns a farm in Freeport, Maine. Grantees have included NRDC.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Usdan and his wife to stick with their established interest areas for now.

CONTACT:

The Hanna and Matthew Usdan Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:

Hanna and Matthew Usdan Foundation
767 Third Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10017