Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: MSD Capital
FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Children's Education, Health & Well-Being, Minority Causes & Criminal Justice Reform
OVERVIEW: Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman and family move their philanthropy through the Fuhrman Family Foundation. The Fuhrman Family Foundation's grantmaking focuses on the arts, children’s education, women’s causes, health and well-being, minority causes and criminal justice reform. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $1.7 million in grants in 2017. The couple are major collectors of contemporary art and founded a nonprofit that showcases contemporary art.
BACKGROUND: Glenn Fuhrman attended UPenn, receiving a B.S.E. in 1987 and an MBA in 1988. He worked at Goldman Sachs from 1988 to 1998 and was a Managing Director and Head of the Special Investments Group. He went on to cofound MSD Capital.
ISSUES:
ARTS & CULTURE: Fuhrman and his wife Amanda are major art collectors, specializing in contemporary art. They have been on ARTNews’ Top 200 art collectors list throughout the decade. Fuhrman sits on the board of MoMA, which the couple strongly supports. He is a trustee of Tate Americas Foundation and a board member of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. In 2008 and for every year since, the Fuhrman family has underwritten free admission at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
The Fuhrmans established The FLAG Art Foundation in 2008 as a Contemporary Art exhibition space in New York’s Chelsea Arts District. FLAG is free and open to the public, presenting exhibitions of international established and emerging artists, curated by a wide range of creative people including the artists Chuck Close and Jim Hodges, and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.
The Family is a frequent contributor to the Public Art Fund supporting public installations, including major Ai Wei Wei installations throughout New York. They have also underwritten major museum exhibitions including the 2017 Rachel Whiteread exhibitions at the Tate along with its presentation at the National Gallery in Washington DC in 2018. They have also supported Apollo Theater.
CHILDREN'S EDUCATION: The Fuhrmans established the The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, which “recognizes and celebrates extraordinary public school teachers who inspire learning through creativity, passion, and commitment.” It gives one winner from each of the five NYC boroughs a $25,000 cash prize. Their schools receive a $10,000 grant toward the creation of an arts-based learning initiative; however, the 2020 winner’s school received a significantly larger grant of $100,000. The Fuhrman’s have supported places like The Harlem Children’s Zone. Amanda Fuhrman, meanwhile, is on the board of Edible Schoolyard NY.
HEALTH & WELL-BEING: The couple have supported places like NY Presbyterian Hospital/Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns and the 92nd Street Y.
MINORITY CAUSES & CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM: Earlier in the decade, Fuhrman and Amanda sponsored the creation of the nation's largest free Wi-Fi network covering 95 city blocks in Harlem. They have also supported groups like The Bard Prison Initiative and are founding members of Art for Justice Fund, "a five-year initiative that aims to turn art into action, investing more than $100 million into strategic efforts to reform the criminal justice system."
LOOKING FORWARD: Fuhrman is still engaged in business and the couple’s charitable vehicle is recently minted. The family should be watched carefully for greater giving down the line, particularly in the arts.
CONTACT:
The Fuhrman Family Foundation
640 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10065
