Thomas and Diane Tuft
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs; Lazard
FUNDING AREAS: Arts and Culture, Education & Youth, Human Services, Health
OVERVIEW: Tom and Diane Tuft conduct their philanthropy through the Tuft Family Foundation, which according to available tax filings, awarded $1.5 million in grants in 2017. The couple's foundation has a New York focus, including quite a few arts grantees from year to year. Diane, an artist, and Tom are both active on several boards in the arts. Other areas of giving include education and human services.
BACKGROUND: Thomas E. Tuft received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1969. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1976 as a vice president in New York institutional sales and moved to equity capital markets. Tuft made partner at Goldman and was also a managing director. He later joined Lazard, a financial advisory and asset management firm.
ISSUES:
ARTS & CULTURE: The couple's arts and culture philanthropy has strong motivations. Tuft chairs the board of the Roundabout Theater Company and also serves as a vice chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Diane Tuft, meanwhile, is a mixed media artist who has focused primarily on photography since 1998. She sits on the board of the International Center for Photography. Recent arts grantees include Film Society of Lincoln Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, which received some $460,000 in a recent fiscal year, International Center of Photography, Whitney Museum of Art, which has received close to $1 million in the most recent tax two years of available tax records, MoMA, Aspen Film, and New York Theatre Ballet.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The couple has recently bankrolled outfits such as Naples Children and Education Foundation, Student Sponsor Partnership, Harlem Village Academies, Turnaround for Children, American Friends of the Hebrew University, and The Foundation for Easton Schools in Pennsylvania. Tuft is a graduate of the Easton Area School District.
HUMAN SERVICES: Tuft has recently shown support for Citymeals on Wheels, New York antipoverty giant the Robin Hood Foundation, and Henry Street Settlement.
HEALTH: While Diane Tuft is particularly associated with the arts, she has always been interested in medicine and scientific research, and has served on the board of trustees of the Cancer Research Institute since 2010. The couple has recently supported that outfit, as well as Mount Sinai Hospital, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Food Allergy Initiative, The SLE Lupus Foundation, now part of the Lupus Research Alliance, and the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.
LOOKING FORWARD: Given the strong motivations behind the couple's arts philanthropy, expect that area in particular to continue receiving support.
CONTACT:
The Tuft Family Foundation does not have a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
Tuft Family Foundation
P.O. Box 73 Bowling Green Station
New York City, NY 10274
