SOURCE OF WEALTH: Lightyear Capital.
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Culture, Health & Human Services, Policy
OVERVIEW: Donald Marron moves his philanthropy through the Donald B. Marron Charitable Trust. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $1.7 million in grants in 2017. He supports education, arts and culture, health and human services and policy. His funding prioritizing the greater New York City area.
BACKGROUND: A lifelong New York City resident, Donald B. Marron attended New York City public schools and Baruch College. Marron began his career at the New York Trust Company and later served as president and CEO of Mitchell Hutchins, a leading U.S. institutional research firm that was acquired by Paine Webber. Marron cofounded Data Resources Inc., an economic data company. In 2000, he founded Lightyear Capital, an investment firm.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: Marron’s education philanthropy has prioritized New York City and a select group of higher education institutions. In 2013, Marron gave $40 million gift to New York University to launch the Marron Institute on Cities and the Urban Environment. Other past New York area grantees include Barnard College, the Bronx High School of Science Alumni Association, the Dwight School and the Spence School. Outside of New York City, Marron has supported the University of Michigan, Franklin and Marshall College, Skidmore College, Georgetown University and Harvard, where he has funded a named graduate scholarship.
ARTS & CULTURE: Marron’s grantmaking in the area of arts and culture has been directed mainly toward New York City’s leading cultural institutions. He has given millions to the New York Public Library, where his wife Catherine serves on the board of trustees. Marron himself is an art collector and past president of the board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art. Other past grantees include Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the Municipal Art Society of New York, the Neue Galerie and the New York Philharmonic. Outside of New York, has supported the Tate Americas Foundation.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Marron has supported health and human services broadly. Past grantees include the Abyssinian Development Corporation, which “provides resources and services that empower Harlem residents to realize their goals and dreams,” and the Association to Benefit Children, a New York City operation that “employs a ‘whole family’ approach” to supporting healthy child development. Additional past grantees include the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Coalition for the Homeless and Phoenix House, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization.
POLICY: A component of Marron’s philanthropy involves the support of non-partisan policy and research institutes. Past grantees include the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.
LOOKING FORWARD: In his 80s, Marron is likely to continue to support established organizations in his areas of interest, with New York City remaining a geographic priority. His wife, Catherine, who runs her own charitable trust, is a strong supporter of urban green spaces, so it is possible that the couple will collaborate in this area in the future.
CONTACT:
Donald B. Marron Charitable Trust
9 W. 57th St., 31st. Fl.
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 884-0198
