Jeffrey and Mara Talpins
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Element Capital Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Jewish Causes, Environmental Conservation
OVERVIEW: Jeffrey and Mara Talpins conduct their philanthropy through the JMT Charitable Foundation, which seeks to improve career opportunities for inner-city children, support long-term prosperity for Israel, and conserve open spaces and wildlife, as for the Everglades Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $2.73 million in grants in 2017. The Talpins have served on the boards of such organizations as Harlem Children’s Zone in the past.
BACKGROUND: Jeffrey Marc Talpins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with a B.S. in economics and applied mathematics. He worked within the Mortgage Backed Securities Department at Goldman Sachs and was the Head Trader of Citigroup's Fixed Income Options franchise. He went on to found Element Capital Management, an alternative investment manager with a modern macro style of global macro investing, in 2005 at Proxima Alfa Investments USA LLC.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Talpins’ investments in education and youth center on improving career opportunities for inner city youth, as well as other under-served communities. Talpins has served on the board of Harlem Children’s Zone for seven years, and has also served on the HCZ CMO and HCZ Promise Academy I and II boards. Past education and youth grantees include Yale University, where Talpins endowed the faculty directorship of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University to help advance domestic policy research. Other education and youth grantees include Success Academy, Ice Hockey in Harlem, and Beat the Streets Wrestling, which aims to “develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and to strengthen the culture of New York City wrestling.” Lastly, Talpins has also made grants to the Youth Renewal Fund, which provides educational opportunities to Israeli high school students from lower income and minority communities.
JEWISH CAUSES: The Talpins support several Jewish organizations including the Jewish National Fund, Jewish Community Relations Council and the United Jewish Appeal Federation, among others.
ENVIRONMENT: The Talpins’ environmental giving centers on wildlife and habitat conservation. The Everglades Foundation has become a major part of this giving area. Jeffrey and Mara Talpins serve on the board of American Prairie Reserve. Mara has a lifelong passion for wildlife and has been actively involved with the Wildlife Conservation Society for some two decades, starting as a volunteer at the Central Park Zoo. Other environmental conservation grantees include the NRDC.
COVID-19: In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Talpins' Element Capital Management partnered with Robin Hood to launch the Element Capital Covid-19 Relief Fund, which focuses on food and child care assistance for healthcare workers on the front line, needs for elderly New Yorkers who are isolated, and food aid for the impoverished. Past grantees in this space include Citymeals on Wheels, City Harvest, City Harvest London and the Robin Hood Covid-19 Relief Fund, as well as two initiatives that Element helped launch, providing meals and childcare services to New York City frontline workers.
In addition, Element Capital Management offered a 3-1 match for all employee donations with no dollar limit. All Element employee participated and donated to the Element Relief Fund, raising $2 million dollars to support neighbors and local heroes.
OTHER:
Though not listed on its website, Element Capital offers a matching gift program to its employees through which the Foundation matches the charitable donation of Element employees up to $50,000 per employee per year. Furthermore, Element offers a discounted fee rate to investors that are also charitable institutions.
Talpins has also funded support for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Additional grantmaking includes investments in health and human service organizations such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the American Cancer Society.
CONTACT:
JMT Charitable Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
JMT Charitable Foundation
600 Lexington Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10022
