SOURCE OF WEALTH: Hyatt Hotels, The Pritzker Group
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Foster Care, Environment, Medicine, Community
OVERVIEW: Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker move philanthropy through the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation (AJPFF) to fund philanthropic causes in the areas of education, environmental sustainability, health, social services, and, particularly, foster care. The couple are major patrons of UCLA.
BACKGROUND: Anthony Pritzker graduated from Dartmouth College and received his M.B.A. from University of Chicago. Pritzker runs The Pritzker Group, a private equity firm. He is is one of 11 billionaire heirs to the Chicago-based Pritzker family fortune, which includes Hyatt Hotels. He is based in Los Angeles.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The couple donated $10 million to UCLA in 2018 to create the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children & Families, and $30 million in 2020 for a major renovation of the Psychology Tower on the UCLA campus. AJPFF has also supported places like California State University Los Angeles, UC Riverside, Year Up, and USC. Pritzker also supports his alma mater University of Chicago. The foundation appears to prioritize higher education institutions.
The Pritzkers also have a strong interest in foster care. In 2008, Jeanne launched Foster Care Counts, a branch of AJPFF which helps Los Angeles’ foster parents care for and nurture the city’s foster children and guides foster youth as they leave the system and attempt to become successful young adults. And the Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, created in 2014, works to support transition-age foster youth and the families that provide them with homes.
ENVIRONMENT: Environmental support is broadly centered on preservation of the natural environment. Anthony has chaired the board of Heal the Bay, an environmental group in Santa Monica as well as UCLA Institute on Environment & Sustainability, which houses the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, a $100,000 annual award that goes to a “scientist, entrepreneur, engineer, activist or artist […] who stands poised to make a game-changing difference.”
MEDICINE: The foundation recently made a $30 million commitment to support a major renovation of the Psychology Tower on the UCLA campus, creating Pritzker Hall. Through the years, the foundation has directed some $100 million to UCLA. Grantees have included Mattel Children’s Hospital,
COMMUNITY: Pritzker co-created the L.A. Students Most in Need charity in early 2020 to feed vulnerable students in the Los Angeles Unified School District during the COVID-19 shutdown. AJPFF is also interested in the arts and Jewish life, with an eye towards Los Angeles. He’s been a trustee of LACMA, which the family supports. The couple also support Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and Jewish Federation.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect this part of the Pritzker billionaire clan to continue to give tracking with their established interest areas.
CONTACT:
Anthony & Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation
11150 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-575-9400 x1161
info@ajpff.org
