OVERVIEW: The Beker Foundation supports Jewish causes, LGBTQ communities and the arts in New York City and Israel.
IP TAKE: The Beker Foundation applies a Jewish lens to all of its giving and most of its grantees are Jewish educational or cultural organizations. This funder offers programmatic, project-based, general operating and family-directed discretionary grants. According to the Beker Foundation, citing the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, the foundation has “implemented a grantmaking process that allows us to get to know the organizations we fund while also minimizing the work they need to do for us.” The Beker’s children have become increasingly involved in philanthropy in recent years, bringing a new level of accessibility and transparency to the foundation.
PROFILE: Based in Boston, the Beker Foundation was established in the 1980s by Harvey and Jayne Beker. Harvey Beker received a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University in 1974 and an MBA in finance from NYU in 1975. Beker was employed at Loeb Rhoades, Inc. where he developed and traded silver arbitrage strategies. He went on to Millburn Ridgefield Corporation, where he served as cochairman. The couple’s children are trustees of the foundation, along with Harvey Beker’s longtime business partners at the Millburn Ridgefield Corporation.
The Beker Foundation was established with “deep gratitude for the generosity of others, and to continue a legacy of tzedakah (giving)” and, in this light, all giving occurs through Jewish values. It has four giving areas: Repairing the World, Expanding Opportunities, Jewish Vibrancy and Arts & Parks. Geographic priorities include Massachusetts, New York and Israel.
Grants for Jewish Causes
Jewish grantees make well over half of this funder’s total grantmaking each year. The foundation’s Jewish Vibrancy giving area aims to “make the Jewish community more vibrant, inclusive and welcoming.” Indeed, many of the foundation’s Jewish grantees are community, cultural and human services organizations.
- Grantees include the Jewish Arts Collaborative in Massachusetts, the Jews of Color Initiative, Central Synagogue Boston and the Jewish Studio Project in Berkeley, California.
- Grants also support U.S.-based organizations that provide support to nonprofits in Israel. Grantees include the American Friends of Shalva Israel, American Friends of the Parents Circle-Families Forum and American Friends of Magen David Adom.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
Education is the foundation’s largest area of giving overall and stems from the foundation’s Expanding Opportunity giving area. A significant portion of its education funding supports Jewish schools and organizations.
- Harvey Beker sits on the board of governors of Hillel International, “the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.”
- Jewish K-12 grantees include the Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools, Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy in the Bornx, Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton, Massachusetts and Torah Academy in Brighton, Massachusetts.
- Higher education grantees include New York University, MIT, Emory University and Brandeis University.
- Other grants for education and opportunity have gone the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Steps for Success of Brookline, Massachusetts, which helps students from low income families succeed academically.
Grants for Community Development, Economic Opportunity, Racial Justice and Mental Health
The foundation’s giving area for Repairing the World aims to dismantle discrimination, “stabilize individuals and families” and expand access to mental health care. A portion of this giving also goes to Jewish organizations.
- One recent grantee, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, “advances the priorities of the organized Jewish community within the community at large.”
- Other Boston area grantees working in these areas include Sociedad Latina, West End House Youth Services, the Social Innovation Forum of Boston and Young Man with a Plan.
Grants for Arts and Culture, Environment
The foundation’s Arts & Parks giving also stays mainly in the Boston area, but these grants tend to support organizations that are not religiously affiliated.
- Grantees include Raw Artworks in Lynn, Masscreative Inc., Friends of the Boston Public Garden and the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, among others.
Important Grant Details
The Beker Foundation makes over 100 grants a year ranging from $150 to $210,000. The foundation’s average grant size is about $10,000, and giving topped $2 million in a recent year.
- More than half of this funder’s giving stays in the Boston area of Massachusetts.
- Jewish organizations also make up a significant portion of this funder’s overall giving.
- This funder supports organizations of all sizes, with the largest grants supporting Jewish education.
- This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, but it invites eligible organizations working in its stated areas of interest to reach out via the contact page with an introduction.
- A phone number listed for this foundation is (212) 332-7300.
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