I first connected with the Merage family in 2020. The Merages came to the states from Iran, and in the late 1970s, brothers David and Paul Merage founded Chef America, the company behind those tasty Hot Pockets microwaveable turnovers. The family’s been on Forbes’ wealthiest American family list in the past, having sold the company to Nestle for $2.6 billion in 2002.
David and his wife Laura started the David and Laura Merage Foundation that same year. But there are a bunch of other foundations associated with the broader Merage clan, including the Andre and Katherine Merage Foundation, named after David’s parents, Merage Foundation Israel, and the Jonathan Merage Foundation.
When I spoke with David and Laura, they emphasized the value of their venture philanthropy approach. “This is our DNA… We go along with the check. We feel that it is essential for organizations that we help succeed to lend our expertise, our knowledge and our years,” Laura told me at the time.
Carrying on that venture philanthropy torch is third-generation family member Sabrina Merage Naim, a venture capitalist herself and host of the podcast “A Fine Mess.” She started her Sabrina Merage Foundation when she was just out of college in 2008, and like that of her parents, it takes a venture philanthropy approach, with the aim of building bridges across diverse societies through educational programs for young people. Grantmaking touches areas like education, the arts, storytelling and Jewish causes.
In a recent interview with IP, Naim spoke about what she learned about philanthropy from her parents growing up, the moment when she found herself running her own foundation just out of college, how she found her own philanthropic voice, and how the family comes together to engage in collective giving.
The biggest gift of her life
The Merages trace their roots to a humble background in Iran, but they were able to use education to change their circumstances. Family traditions of giving back and being civic-minded were established during that time, as well, though Naim noted that the family never used a “highbrow” term like philanthropy. Naim’s great grandmother, affectionately called Big Mamma, helped protect young women in abusive relationships. “It started even at a time when my family didn’t have financial capabilities,” Naim said. “It started as ‘how can we be good, upstanding members of society and help our community?’ And that ethos has really continued down the generations.”
So when the family moved to the United States and eventually built a tremendous fortune, it wasn’t really a question whether next-generation family members were going to be involved in giving. Instead the question for Naim was what she would focus on.
Often, younger family members have the opportunity to cut their teeth at a large, unified family foundation, but it was different for Naim. She says that her grandmother gifted each of her grandchildren their own foundation, with the help of David. The other Chef America founder, David’s brother Paul Merage, also runs a foundation, as do his children.
“That was a really interesting approach, individually figuring out early what it is that we cared deeply about and having some semblance of autonomy and authority over our giving,” Naim said.
But at the time, Naim was only in her early 20s, having just graduated from college in Colorado and starting her first job. Though it was overwhelming and daunting, in hindsight, she now sees the moment as the “biggest gift of her life.”
Part of that journey in confidence involved embracing her parents’ venture philanthropy spirit, which also carried over from the family business. “My model, from both of my parents, was always that we are going to put all of ourselves into this — extend our experience, our resources, our teams and our knowledge to push that needle,” Naim said.
Even though Naim initially struggled to find her footing as a philanthropist, she never wanted to be passive in her work. She credits long-running Executive Director Sue Renner, who helped oversee the constellation of Merage charities, for helping her find her voice. Renner organized meetings and seminars to help everyone get smart about philanthropy. Naim jokes that even though Renner recently retired, when you join Merage, you’re involved for life. The two still talk regularly.
Philanthropy for storytelling
Even though Naim had a grounding in venture philanthropy when she started the Sabrina Merage Foundation in 2008, she said those early days of giving through her foundation were largely conventional. She served on boards. She gave gifts to local nonprofits. But she said she realized fairly quickly how long philanthropy’s timescales tend to be.
On the heels of the 2017 Charlottesville car attack, she said she started to feel that if something so earth-shattering could still happen, the long battles she was fighting weren’t moving the needle. She connected with Atlanta-raised documentary filmmaker Erin Levin Bernhardt, and the two found a shared purpose.
Bernhardt pitched Naim on her film “Refuge,” about Clarkston, an Atlanta town that is considered one of the most diverse in the nation. “It’s people who come to this country for refuge from all over the world: civil wars, persecution, whatever the reason. Literally people who would have nothing in common are living [together] in one square mile in Georgia,” Naim said. “It was the beauty of the multinational, religious tapestry of America, and I wanted to be part of it.”
Naim started to understand the tremendous power filmmaking has to galvanize awareness and change, and wanted to start supporting other storytellers engaged in social change work. She is not alone there: Other next-generation donors, like Jeff Sobrato of the billionaire Sobrato family, also work in this growing space, sometimes called “filmanthropy” — backing socially conscious films with philanthropic cash.
“I wanted to put out stories in the world that showed the hope, the diversity and the care that I have always felt in this country and that is the goalpost of this country,” Naim said. “That was the beginning of a very long journey.”
Naim eventually launched Evoke Media, a subsidiary of the Sabrina Merage Foundation, which works at the intersection of documentaries, scripted work and podcasts with a social message. Her new podcast, “A Fine Mess,” touches on issues like AI, cannabis legalization in Colorado, and romance in an age of dating apps.
She said that she’s generally disheartened by the degree to which this country has become polarized, and how hard it is to talk across the aisle. Her goal is to spark difficult but necessary conversations.
The path not taken, and looking ahead
During our conversation, Naim stepped back to think about what her philanthropic journey might have looked like had the Merage family all come together under one big family foundation. It’s possible that their giving capacity might’ve been higher, she mused. But it’s also possible that they would have had to navigate many more disagreements and red tape. “There are two sides to every coin,” she said.
But with the way family giving is arranged right now, individual family members are able to run their own foundations, but also act as advisers and cheerleaders for the other foundations. She said her brother Jonathan has vastly different interests, but she still uses him as a sounding board for ideas, and vice versa.
Some of the Sabrina Merage Foundation’s grantees also have strong relationships with other family members. For instance, longtime artist Laura Merage started the nomadic art museum Black Cube to take art outside of the typical galleries and museums and increase access. The Sabrina Merage Foundation partnered with the museum to create an artist fellowship focusing on artists with a diverse and inclusive message.
At one point, Naim’s parents engaged in policy efforts around early childhood education and President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, though this is not a priority now, she said. Multidimensional philanthropy is never a bad thing, she went on, but donors also have to be realistic about what’s working and what isn’t and be nimble enough to pivot.
Looking forward, Naim said she wants to be a significant player in telling stories about the things that unite rather than divide us. This could come through her media work, or through more traditional giving. “My biggest goal — and it’s always been this — is to be the launching pad for the changemakers. I want to be the person who identifies the real changemakers and gives them the rocket fuel that they need to go out into the world.”
