Feroz and Erica Dewan

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Arena Holdings Management, Tiger Global Management

FUNDING AREAS: (STEM) Education, Medical, Humanitarian

OVERVIEW: Feroz Dewan and family move their philanthropy through the Rise8 Foundation. According to available tax filings, Rise8 awarded $1.6 million in grants in 2017. That same year, the foundation approved a total of $9.355 million in funding for future payment. The Dewans have a particular interest in education, including STEM education, and serve on several key boards. Another interest is health.

BACKGROUND: Feroz Dewan graduated from Princeton University. He was a private equity investor at Silver Lake Partners and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He ran the Public Equity funds at Tiger Global Management and went on to become CEO of Arena Holdings Management, an investment holding company. It’s unclear how much he’s worth but he earned $200 million in 2014 alone.

ISSUES:

(STEM) EDUCATION: Dewan serves as chair of the board of Character Lab, a Philadelphia nonprofit that uses “psychological science to help children thrive.” His wife Erica is also a board member of the nonprofit, which recently received a seven-figure gift from the couple via their foundation. Other seven-figure sums have gone to Teach for America, where Erica once worked. Dewan studied engineering and mathematics at Princeton and the family has an interest in STEM education, supporting Liberty Science Center, Khan Academy, and Code.org.

Other grantees have included KIPP New York, The Posse Foundation, and Singapore American School Foundation.

MEDICAL & HUMANITARIAN: The Dewans have steadily supported Columbia Children’s Gala, which works for Columbia University Children’s Health—a “preeminent entity for treating children and young adults with complex and rare diseases based out of New York Presbyterian’s children’s hospital.” Other grantees have included Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Children’s Hope International.

LOOKING FORWARD: Annual grantmaking out of the Rise8 Foundation appears to be on the rise lately. Dewan is only in his forties and very much engaged in business, but perhaps more funds will flow to the family’s established interest areas in the coming years, particular in education.

CONTACT:

The Rise8 Foundation not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:

Rise8 Foundation
119 Fifth Ave, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10003