Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Nazarian Family Foundation supports Jewish causes, higher education, policy development and arts and culture. Most of grantmaking stays in the cities of Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, Israel.

IP TAKE: The Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation is well-known in Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, but has not made many grants to organizations in other areas. Large organizations and projects that bear the family name are the big winners here. The foundation accepts applications by invitation only, so a connection to a member of the Nazarian Family will be key here.

PROFILE: Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Younes Nazarian, his wife, Soraya, and family. Younes Nazarian, born in Iran, came to the U.S. decades ago and settled in Los Angeles. He was an early investor in Qualcomm and founded Nazarian Enterprises. The foundation is currently led by the couple’s daughter Sharon Nazarian, who is also the founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA.

The mission of the Nazarian Family Foundation is to promote “education as the most important catalyst for societal change.” In addition to this main objective, the foundation prioritizes “[g]iving back to the Jewish and Iranian roots of the family,” public policy pertaining to Israel, and “enriching the lives of others through the arts and culture.” Grantmaking focuses on Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Grants for Higher Education

While the foundation does state that education is a funding priority, it does not provide either a grantmaking strategy or clear guidelines for grantseekers. Tax records indicate that colleges, universities and other types of higher education organizations receive the lion’s share of support here.

In the early 2000s, the Nazarian Family Foundation gave a $5 million gift to UCLA to establish the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, which "promotes the study of the history, culture and society of Israel as a modern Jewish and democratic state." The foundation also created the Soraya Sarah Nazarian Program in Fine Arts at American Jewish University. At the University of Southern California, the foundation bankrolled the Nazarian Pavillion and the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Distinguished Annual Lecture on Israel.

Additional past grantees include Brandeis University, University of Pennsylvania and California State University at Northridge.

The Nazarians also support Israeli educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Younes and Soraya Library at the University of Haifa, the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Academic Library of the Ima Foundation at Sapir College and the Technoda Dorset Science & Technology Center.

Grants for Jewish Causes and Global Security

The Nazarian Family Foundation names public policy and related research for the State of Israel as a main funding priority. Areas of specific interest include energy, security, law enforcement and “the development of the Galilee and Negev regions.” The family's foundation has a regional branch in Israel called the Ima Foundation, which is focused exclusively on grants in that country.

Younes Nazarian served as an advisory board member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy and helped fund the RAND Israel Project to explore energy alternatives. The family foundation has also helped fund the RAND Policy and Public Safety Project in Israel, and the Middle East Media Research Institute, among others.

Other grantees in Israel include the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the National Library of Israel and WIZO, a provider of social welfare services. It has also given over $500,000 to Friends of Israel Defense Forces.

The Nazarian Family Foundation also makes grants for Jewish Causes in the U.S. The foundation has given millions to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles to create the Y&S Nazarian Iranian Young Leadership Initiative.

Other U.S. grantees include the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, the Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York and the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity in Beverly Hills.

Grants for Arts and Culture and Arts Education

Nazarian’s arts and culture grants also focus on Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, placing a strong focus on “using the arts as a tool for learning, teaching tolerance and confidence-building for children.”

U.S. grantees include Los Angeles’s Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Cayton Children’s Museum.

In Israel, the foundation has supported the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Bazalel Academy of Art and Design.

Important Grant Details:

Most of this funder’s grants range from $500 to $200,000, but named projects and initiatives of special interest have received larger sums.

  • Grantmaking prioritizes the cities of Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.

  • This foundation favors large organizations and projects that bear the Nazarian name.

  • Jewish causes are the foundation’s largest giving area.

  • Applications are accepted by invitation only..

General inquiries may be submitted to this foundation via email at info@yandsnazarianfamilyfoundation.org.

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