David and Amy Abrams
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Abrams Capital Management LP
FUNDING AREAS: Education, youth, arts & culture, Boston community, Jewish causes
OVERVIEW: Founded in 1997, the Abrams Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of David and Amy Abrams. The foundation’s grantmaking has supported nonprofit organizations focused on youth development and related education organizations and initiatives, the arts, and community issues. The Boston area is an important region of giving.
According to the most recently available tax filings, the Abrams Foundation awarded over $5.1 million in grants in 2016. The most common grant size is around $10,000.
BACKGROUND: David C. Abrams graduated from University of Pennsylvania. He worked for Baupost Group and in 1998 founded Abrams Capital.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: David and Amy Abrams have supported their schools—UPenn and Brown University, respectively. They have supported Columbia University (Amy’s graduate school), including its School of International and Public Affairs and helped fund FRONTLINE/Columbia Journalism Fellows.
Major grantees in recent years include Year Up which received $560,000 in grant funding over four years; Berklee College of Music, which has received over $4 million in total funding to date and Milton Academy, which has been awarded $250,000 in grants to date. Other grantees include KIPP Academy Lynn, Match Charter Public School, Teach for America, and Uncommon Schools.
ARTS & CULTURE: Amy Abrams serves on the board of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which the couple has given millions to. A $3 million gift earlier in the decade endowed a curator of music there. Other grantees have included Boston Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston Arts Academy, and the Better Angels Society, which aims to further “the extraordinary creative and educational legacy of Ken Burns.”
BOSTON COMMUNITY: The Abrams’s are strong supporters of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which was awarded nearly $2.3 million in grant funding in recent years. Other Boston community grantees include the Boston Museum of Science and the Civic Leadership Fund at the Boston Foundation.
JEWISH CAUSES: The Abrams family also supports Jewish organizations like Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston and The David Project.
LOOKING FORWARD: Grantmaking has steadily risen in recent years at the Abrams Foundation. David Abrams is still very much engaged in business, but this funder should be watched carefully down the line.
CONTACT:
The Abrams Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple but below is contact information:
Abrams Foundation
222 Berkeley St.
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: (617) 646-6140
LINK:
