Wexner Foundation

Extracted Attributes

• Founded

  1983-01-01 (Note: Sources vary between 1980, 1983, and 1984)

• Founder

  Les Wexner

• Key People

  Abigail Wexner (Chairman), Les Wexner (Founder)

• Headquarters

  New Albany, Ohio, USA

• Office Locations

  New Albany (OH), New York City (NY), Jerusalem (Israel)

• Total Investment

  Hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropic activities

• Organization Type

  Private operating foundation

Timeline

• The Wexner Foundation is established by Leslie Wexner to foster Jewish leadership. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1983-01-01

• The Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program is founded to award scholarships for Jewish leadership and rabbinical studies. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1988-01-01

• The Wexner Israel Fellowship Program is created as a partnership with Harvard University's Kennedy School. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1989-01-01

• Abigail Wexner joins the foundation's leadership, helping to chart its philanthropic vision. (Source: The Wexner Foundation Website)

  1990-01-01

• The Wexner Foundation and the Wexner Heritage Foundation officially merge into a single entity. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2003-01-01

• The William Davidson Foundation joins as a partner, renaming the graduate program to the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2006-01-01

• The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s is renamed the Abigail Wexner Research Institute. (Source: The Wexner Foundation Website)

  2019-01-01

• The Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program concludes. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2023-01-01

• The Wexner Foundation formally severs ties with Harvard University, citing a 'dismal failure' in the university's leadership following the October 7 attacks. (Source: Document 0d1b8bf2-4839-4e94-af1e-1c882a1d8877)

  2023-10-16

• The Wexner Israel Fellowship Program officially ends and the first class of the Wexner Davidson Fellowship (WDF) is welcomed. (Source: The Wexner Foundation Website)

  2024-01-01

Wexner Foundation

The Wexner Foundation is an American philanthropic organization which focuses on developing Jewish professional and volunteer leaders in North America and public leaders in Israel. Founded by Les Wexner, CEO of Limited Brands, in 1983, its headquarters are located in New Albany, Ohio, with additional offices in New York City and Jerusalem. In addition to their offered leadership programs, the Wexner Foundation supports other Jewish charities as well.

Web Search Results

• Our Philanthropic Legacy - The Wexner Foundation

  # The Foundation Since the early 1980s, The Wexner Foundation and its affiliates have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable and philanthropic activities around the world. The Foundation’s organizing framework has been built on developing leadership though investing in programs, people, and institutions. The core of The Wexner Foundation’s philanthropic work has consisted of leadership programs that Foundation staff run and operate—investing in individual leaders. But the Foundation has also pursued its mission by supporting institutions and programs which serve crucial functions in enriching Jewish life and employing and training leaders for the North American Jewish Community and Israel. [...] In 2019, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s was renamed in honor of Abigail Wexner, whose ongoing and passionate advocacy ushered in a period of unprecedented transformation at the hospital. During her more than 25 years on the board of directors, Nationwide Children’s grew to become one of the leading pediatric health care systems in the United States, and the Abigail Wexner Research Institute one of the most preeminent centers of its kind. [...] Mrs. Wexner began serving on Nationwide Children’s board in 1993 and acted as board chair for seven years from 2005 to 2012. During her tenure as chair, Mrs. Wexner led the hospital through the largest expansion in its history, including completion of a 12-story hospital building and a third research building, with more than $1.2 billion in regional economic impact. Mrs. Wexner was at the forefront of strengthening the central Ohio community’s response to family violence through the successful merging of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy with the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence to create The Center for Family Safety and Healing on the campus of Nationwide Children’s. Since its inception in 2011, Mrs. Wexner has served as board chair.

• Wexner Foundation - Wikipedia

  In 1988, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program was founded by the Wexner Foundation. It awards scholarships to 20 exceptional individuals in North America who wish to obtain degrees in Jewish education, Jewish leadership, rabbinical studies, or cantorate studies. The mission of this program is "to encourage promising candidates to successfully meet the challenges of professional Jewish leadership in the North American Jewish community." In 2006, the Wexner Foundation brought in the William Davidson Foundation as a partner and the program was renamed the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. The program ended in 2023. [...] In the early 1980s, Leslie Wexner founded two separate organizations designed to foster strong leadership in Israel's public sector, and Jewish professional and volunteer leadership in North America. The Wexner Heritage Program was created to strengthen volunteer leaders. The Wexner Graduate Fellowship was created for emerging professional Jewish leaders and in 2006 was renamed The Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program when the William Davidson Foundation joined as a partner. The Wexner Israel Fellowship was created for mid-career Israeli public officials. In the 1990s, Abigail Wexner joined her husband in charting the Wexner philanthropic vision and their roles as chairmen. In 2003, the two foundations merged, and since then The Wexner Foundation has run its programs as a [...] The Wexner Israel Fellowship Program was created in 1989 and ended in 2024. It was a partnership between the Wexner Foundation and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The program annually selected up to 10 Israeli public officials and/or nonprofit leaders to participate in leadership seminars while they pursued a mid-career Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree at the Kennedy School. The goal of this program, according to the Wexner Foundation website, is "to provide Israel's next generation of public leaders with advanced training in public management and leadership development, thus enhancing the quality of democracy and the institutional vitality of Israel's public sector."

• The Wexner Foundation - Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

  The Wexner Foundation and the Wexner Heritage Foundation (now part of The Wexner Foundation) were established by Leslie Wexner in 1984. The Wexner Heritage program was designed to provide young North American Jewish volunteer leaders with a two-year intensive Jewish learning program, thus deepening their understanding of Jewish history, values, and texts and enriching their leadership skills. By the end of 2011, over 1700 North American Jewish leaders from 31 cities will have participated in the program. In 1988 The Wexner Foundation introduced a Fellowship Program for outstanding rabbinical students and graduate students in Jewish education and Jewish communal service programs. The same year, the Foundation established a grants program for academic institutions of all types to build and [...] fellowship is to provide Israel’s next generation of public leaders with advanced leadership and public management training. By the end of 2011, 207 Israeli public officials will have participated in the Israel Fellowship, including leaders who have gone on to become Directors General of government ministries, Generals and Commanders in the Israeli military, and top advisors to Prime Ministers. [...] program for academic institutions of all types to build and improve training programs for Jewish community professionals. Eventually, the Fellowship Program was expanded to include top candidates for academic Jewish studies and the cantorate. By the end of 2011, over 400 outstanding Jewish professional leaders from a wide array of religious affiliations and professional groupings will have participated in the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. Additionally, in 1988, the Wexner Israel Fellowship Program was created. Annually, up to 10 outstanding mid-career Israeli public officials are selected to study for a master’s degree in the mid-career program of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The goal of the fellowship is to provide Israel’s next generation of public

• Our Story - The Wexner Foundation

  # 2024 The Wexner Foundation officially welcomed its first class into The Wexner Davidson Fellowship (WDF). WDF is the Wexner Foundation’s newest leadership development initiative for working professionals. Initiated in partnership with the William Davidson Foundation, WDF is accepts Jewish communal professionals in North America ages 26 – 36 who are eager to strengthen their practice of leadership, develop a lifelong network of colleagues, and have already had an outsized impact on the field. Together, they will experience immersive institutes focused on Jewish and leadership learning, and also receive coaching, a personalized Jewish educator, and access to funding for additional professional development. [...] In the last decade, the Foundation has actively pursued partnerships with communities, foundations, philanthropists, Alumni, federations and other stakeholders in our work. For 35 years, The Wexner Foundation has never wavered from its focus upon Jewish leadership in the Jewish world and Israel. The Foundation’s professionalism, standards of excellence, and strong relationships with Jewish communities and organizations have created a model of practice for Jewish private philanthropy that has stood the test of time. [...] for education and inspiration among leaders in the North American Jewish community and in Israel’s public sector.

• Our Structure and Funding - The Wexner Foundation

  The philanthropic organization created to develop these leadership initiatives took the legal form of a private operating foundation. Unlike the vast majority of foundations which function as grant-making entities, The Wexner Foundation devotes itself to a set of focused initiatives largely funded by a single donor and operated by its own professional staff. While philanthropic partners and local communities have periodically provided supplemental funding, the Foundation‘s standing as a private operating foundation endures. Given the above, with rare exception, The Wexner Foundation is not a grant-making philanthropy and has no process through which agencies and organizations might apply for funding. [...] # Our Structure and Funding The Legal Definition of The Wexner Foundation In the early 1980’s, Leslie Wexner advanced a set of leadership development ideas that have become his unwavering philanthropic commitment over four decades. He recognized that leaders were not sufficiently developed and valued in Jewish community life. With laser-like focus he crafted a set of initiatives designed to identify, train and support volunteer and professional leaders in North American Jewish life and public sector leaders in Israel. In time, Abigail Wexner, his life and leadership partner, joined him in building a foundation singularly devoted to these pursuits.

• Country

  Israel

• Founder

  Les Wexner

• Instance Of

  Q163740

• Headquarters

  New Albany

• Inception Date

  1/1/1980