David and Susan Viniar
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Health, NYC Community
OVERVIEW: David and Susan Viniar and conduct their philanthropy through the Viniar Family Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded around $738,000 in grants in 2018. The Viniars support education and youth, including considerable support to Viniar's undergraduate alma mater, Union College. The couple is also interested in health, particularly to cancer outfits, and to arts and culture. The foundation's grantmaking primarily involves outfits in New York and New Jersey, as well as California.
BACKGROUND: David Viniar graduated from Bronx High School of Science, received a bachelor's degree from Union College, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 and in 1999 became CFO, a position he held for 13 years. Viniar is also a director of Square, Inc.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Viniar has supported his alma mater Union College with millions of dollars, including $3.2 million to create the Viniar Athletic Center in 2003. Apart from Union College, David and Susan, through their Viniar Family Foundation, have supported outfits such as Don Bosco Preparatory High School and The Forum School, both in New Jersey, as well as Harvard Business School, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Columbia University, among others. A component of this philanthropy also involves the West Coast; the family has a home in Santa Barbara County. The Viniar Family Foundation's grantmaking has recently funded University of California programs, UCSB Athletics and UCSF Foundation.
Other support has gone to youth programs. Recent grantees include Ramapo for Children, a summer camp for special needs children, Harlem Children's Zone, Harlem RBI, Girls Leadership Institute, Storyteller Children's Center, which provides "high quality early childhood education for homeless and at-risk children in Santa Barbara County, as well as comprehensive support services for their families," Garden of Dreams Foundation, which "works with The Madison Square Garden Company and MSG Networks Inc. to positively impact the lives of children facing obstacles." The couple has also supported Pony Power Therapies, a New Jersey-based "nonprofit organization giving special needs and at-risk children and adults a unique opportunity to ride, care for and interact with horses."
ARTS & CULTURE: Outfits supported include New York City Ballet, Museum of Modern Art, Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, and The High Line. Susan Viniar sits on the board of Friends of the High Line.
HEALTH: Recent grantees include NYU Cancer Institute, Hospital for Joint Diseases, Patient Airlift Services, NYU Medical Center, Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, Valley Hospital Foundation in New Jersey, Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund, which helps families dealing with childhood cancer. Cancer appears to be a top interest of this funder's health grantmaking.
NYC COMMUNITY: In New York, the Viniars have supported human services outfits such as Citymeals on Wheels. The Viniars have also supported the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York City anti poverty outfit.
LOOKING FORWARD: Born in 1955, Viniar is still quite young and should be watched for greater giving down the line.
CONTACT:
The Viniar Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for contact, but below is an address:
The Viniar Family Foundation
Bowling Green Sta., P.O. Box 73
New York City, NY 10274
