Antony Ressler and Jami Gertz
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ares Management, Apollo Global Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Los Angeles Community, Jewish Causes
OVERVIEW: Antony Ressler and Jami Gertz move their philanthropic contributions through the Ressler/Gertz Foundation, which prioritizes education, the greater Los Angeles community and Jewish causes. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded $5.84 million in grants in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Antony Ressler is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. After graduating, he worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert, eventually serving as senior vice president in the firm’s high-yield bond department. In 1990, he cofounded the private equity firm Apollo Global Management with his brother-in-law Leon Black. In 1997, Ressler cofounded Ares Management. Jami Gertz, who attended New York University, is an actress.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: The couple’s education philanthropy has prioritized the Los Angeles area. Antony Ressler is a founding board member of the Alliance for College Ready Public Schools, a network of college preparatory charter schools in Los Angeles. Additional education recipients in the Los Angeles area include City Year Los Angeles, Junior Achievement of Southern California, the Campbell Hall School, Jon Sepler Sports at Mar Vista and the UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. On the national level, the couple has donated to Educators for Excellence, a teacher-led education advocacy organization. Antony Ressler’s alma mater Georgetown has also received steady support.
LA COMMUNITY: Ressler and Gertz have supported a wide variety of causes in Los Angeles. Ressler is a co-chair of the board of trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a member of the board of directors of Cedars Sinai Medical Center. The couple has also supported the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries, which “provides hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women,” and the Painted Turtle, a camp for children with serious medical conditions.
JEWISH CAUSES: In Los Angeles, Ressler and Gertz have supported the Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, “a human rights organization researching the Holocaust and hate in a historic and contemporary context.” The couple has also donated to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
OTHER: The couple gave $5 million to the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to provide financial support to local Black-owned businesses, and to support other programs.
LOOKING FORWARD: While Ressler and Gertz will likely continue to support Los Angeles-based organizations, it is possible that their philanthropy will broaden its geographic scope in the coming years.
CONTACT:
Ressler/Gertz Foundation
16130 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 320
Encino, CA 91436
