SOURCE OF WEALTH: Blackstone Group
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health & Human Services, Jewish causes, Global
OVERVIEW: Kenneth and Debra Caplan conduct their philanthropy through the Debra and Kenneth Caplan Foundation. The couple supports their alma maters, along with various education and health interests. Their philanthropy centers around the Northeast. Available tax filings indicate that the foundation awarded around $521,000 in grants in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Kenneth Caplan graduated with an A.B. in economics from Harvard College. He joined Lazard Frères and then Blackstone Group in 1997. Caplan is a senior managing director and global CIO of the Real Estate Group.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Caplan is on the board of trustees of Prep for Prep, which the couple supports. Caplan and Debra also support their schools Harvard and University of Michigan, respectively. Other grantees include East Harlem Tutorial Program, University of Pennsylvania, Harlem Village Academies, and Columbia University (for Alzheimer’s disease research).
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: The Caplans appear to focus on cancer in their health giving. Grantees include Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Melanoma Research Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Lupus Research Alliance, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and The Lisa B. Fishman Foundation, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to raising money for lymphoma and cancer research”. They have also supported human services organizations including Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges.
JEWISH CAUSES: Grantees include National Council of Jewish Women and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
GLOBAL: The couple earmarks funds for organizations that work on a global level, like Sundara Fund, a “non-profit sustainable soap recycling initiatives for underserved populations in India & Myanmar,” and Pencils of Promise, a “non-profit organization that builds schools and increases educational opportunities in the developing world.”
LOOKING FORWARD: Caplan is still very much engaged in business, but his giving may expand in coming years.
CONTACT:
Debra and Kenneth Caplan Foundation
501 Silverside Rd., Ste. 123
Wilmington, DE 19809
