Peter and Jill Kraus

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs; AllianceBernstein

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Education, Human Services & Youth, Health, NYC community

OVERVIEW: Peter and Jill Kraus conduct their philanthropy through the Kraus Family Foundation, which prioritizes the arts, as the couple are prominent art collectors who often lend and donate pieces to museums. According to available tax filings, the foundation dispersed $7.9 million in grant funding in 2018. The Krauses have also supported education, including Kraus' alma mater, Trinity College. Their support also includes human services and health. The couple's philanthropy generally centers around New York.

BACKGROUND: Peter S. Kraus was born in Philadelphia in 1952. He earned a B.A. from Trinity College and an MBA from New York University. He was an audit partner at Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co before joining Goldman Sachs in 1986, and worked there for two decades. He was named a partner in 1994, and a managing director two years later. In 2008, Kraus was appointed executive vice-president at Merrill Lynch. Kraus currently serves as chairman of the board and CEO of AllianceBernstein, a global asset management firm.

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE: Kraus and his wife Jill are prominent art collectors, and have been featured on ArtNews' Top 200 art collectors list. Jill chairs the board of Public Art Fund, a "nonprofit arts organization that presents the work of contemporary artists in New York's public spaces." Jill is a former design director of Avon Products and serves on the boards of the New Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. The couple has lent or donated some of their collection to art museums, including a gift of Christian Marclay’s 24-hour video installation "The Clock" to MoMA. The couple's charitable vehicle has recently supported a long series of high-profile arts and culture outfits, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (which received $1.25 million in the most recent fiscal year available), MoMA (some $1.3 million in the most recent fiscal year available), Mass MOCA, Whitney Museum of American Art, New World Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Public Art Fund, Creative Capital Foundation, Sculpture Center, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, Harlem Stage, and Dia Art Foundation, a "nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects." 

EDUCATION: Kraus has supported alma mater Trinity College, the site of the Jill G. and Peter S. Kraus '74 Fund for Presidential Scholars. Kraus was once a trustee of the school. In the 2014 fiscal year, the foundation gave Trustees of Trinity College $250,000. Other recent education grantees include Stanford Library Capital Campaign, Harlem School of the Arts, Claremont McKenna College, The Naples Children & Education Foundation, and Learning Leaders. The couple has also been involved with California Institute of the Arts, where Jill sits on the board, and from where their son Jason graduated. Other funds benefitted Jill's alma mater Carnegie Mellon, home to the Kraus Campo, a roof garden and landscape design space.

HUMAN SERVICES & YOUTH: Recent grantees include Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of NY, Citizens Committee for Children, Henry Street Settlement, Caron Treatment Center, Citymeals-on-Wheels, Harlem RBI, and Search & Care, whose mission is to "seek out older people in the community who need help in managing life's daily activities or accessing essential services." 

HEALTH: In health, recent Kraus Family Foundation grantees include Ernie Els for Autism Foundation, Blythedale Children's Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Parkinson’s Foundation, and Alzheimer's Association. It appears that the couple has a particular interest in neurological disorders. They've also recently bankrolled Cure PSP, the "leading nonprofit advocacy organization focused on prime of life neurodegenerative diseases."

NYC COMMUNITY: The couple's Kraus Family Foundation has recently funded Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence Education Fund.

LOOKING FORWARD: As a major art collecting couple, the Krauses will likely continue to focus on arts organizations with both their money and their art collection. Pieces from their collection have already made it to museums. 

CONTACT:

The Kraus Family Foundation

Bowling Green Sta., P.O. Box 73

New York City, NY 10274