Ricky and Mara Sandler
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Eminence Capital
FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Education & Youth, Jewish causes, Human Services & Health
OVERVIEW: Ricky and Mara Sandler conduct their philanthropy through the Mara & Ricky Sandler Foundation, whose grantmaking strongly involves New York City organizations. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded just over $3 million in grants in 2018. In education, the couple support their mutual alma mater, University of Wisconsin. The family also supports quite a few Jewish organizations, and Mara serves on the board of several nonprofits.
BACKGROUND: Ricky Sandler received a BBA in accounting and finance from the University of Wisconsin. He started his career as a research analyst at Mark Asset Management, and also co-managed Fusion Capital Management. He founded Eminence Capital in 1998.
ISSUES:
ARTS AND CULTURE: Sandler's wife Mara is an arts consultant who serves on such boards as the 92nd Street Y, which the couple steadily supports through their foundation. Dancing also appears to be a top interest, and the Sandlers have supported Chicago Dancing Company, National Dance Institute, and New York City Ballet. Other grantees have included Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Public Theater, and Whitney Museum of Art.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Sandlers strongly support their shared alma mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sandler is a board member of the University of Wisconsin Foundation. Riverdale Country School in the Bronx also recently received a large grant from the family. Other grantees have included Columbia University (Mara attended Teacher's College), East Harlem Little League, Teach for America, Harlem Village Academies, StreetSquash, The IDEAL School of Manhattan, and A BroaderWay Foundation (ABW), a charity founded by Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel that "offers girls from urban communities an outlet for self-expression and creativity through arts-centered programs."
JEWISH CAUSES: Jewish organizations are heavily featured in the foundation's grantmaking. A particularly big winner has been UJA Federation. Other grantees have included Facing History and Ourselves, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Hillel (including its University of Wisconsin chapter), Israel Cancer Research Fund, Israel Tennis Centers, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Mara Sandler is a director emerita of CASAColumbia, which the family supports through their foundation. Mara also serves as first chair of Ovarian Cancer Research's Woman to Woman Program, a "unique support program that pairs gynecologic cancer patients with trained survivor volunteers who provide one-on-one emotional support and mentoring to women when they need it most." The Sandlers have also given particularly large sums to Mount Sinai Health System. Other grantees have included Citymeals-on-Wheels, FARE, New York-Presbyterian Fund, and Southampton Hospital Foundation.
LOOKING FORWARD: Sandler is only in his 40s and very much still engaged in business, but his foundation has been around since last decade. Mara Sandler's various board memberships are something to watch carefully in the coming years.
CONTACT:
The Mara & Ricky Sandler Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
The Mara & Ricky Sandler Foundation
c/o Eminence Partners
399 Park Avenue, 25th Floor
New York, NY 10022
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