DONALD AND ANN BROWN Donald Brown, a real estate attorney and co-founder of JBG Real Estate Companies, and his wife Ann, a former chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission, have given generously to at least a dozen schools and educational causes over the years. Ditto the arts, including the Washington National Opera, Phillips Collection, National Symphony and Arena Stage. Most recently, their $2 million gift in 2011 helped to renovate Palm Beach Dramaworks, an acclaimed professional resident theater company in West Palm Beach, Fla. Their philanthropic priorities have now changed. “We want to focus on palpable social return in poor communities,” Ann Brown recently said, mentioning a current favorite: A Wider Circle [See related story on page 48], which has received their initial $100,000 donation to provide bedding and furnishings to families leaving shelters. CALVIN AND JANE CAFRITZ With close to a half-billion dollars in assets, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is one of the Washington area’s largest philanthropic entities and also one of the most prolific, loyal and creative. Since its creation in 1970, it has given away $428 million to more than 900 deserving non-profit organizations in five general areas (arts and humanities, community services, education, health and the environment) under the capable direction of Calvin Cafritz, the founders’ eldest son. With help from his wife Jane, the foundation continues to support many established causes (Washington National Opera, Iona Senior Services, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, etc.) but is also known for its willingness to get behind new and innovative groups such as DC Greens, which helps people from all backgrounds gain access to affordable healthy food. Last year the Cafritz Foundation distributed $17.5 million to 424 recipients. BUFFY CAFRITZ When Bill Cafritz died in August, he left generous and substantial bequests to four organizations that he, along with his wife Buffy, had been supporting for years: the
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| JUNE
2015
National Gallery of Art, National Institutes of Health, Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center. The couple’s Buffy and William Cafritz Family Foundation, which Buffy Cafritz will continue to direct, supports numerous causes including the Washington Ballet, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Signature Theater, the Wilson Center, the Lincoln Awards: A Concert for Veteran and Military Families, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies and many more. STEVE AND JEAN CASE Former America Online CEO Steve Case and his wife Jean, a marketing executive at the company, made their $1.3 billion fortune working for AOL, before shifting to philanthropy. They co-founded the Case Foundation in 1997 (Jean Case is CEO), which takes an entrepreneurial approach to giving by funding ideas and initiatives that will make meaningful change in communities. They say their work currently falls into three areas: revolutionizing philanthropy, unleashing entrepreneurship and igniting civil engagment. The foundation has given more than $100 million to charitable causes, including City Year, Americorps, Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure and America’s Promise. The Cases have also signed “The Giving Pledge” and have publically reaffirmed their commitment to give away the bulk of their wealth to philanthropic causes. BETTY BROWN CASEY Casey single-handedly oversees the Eugene B. Casey Foundation, established by her late husband, Gene, a Maryland construction magnate. Its reported assets are close to $200 million and it gives away tens of millions annually to schools, hospitals and the arts. The foundation established the Casey Health Institute, an integrative medicine center in Montgomery County, with $29.2 million and funded the Casey Trees Project to restore the tree canopy of Washington, D.C. to the tune of $35 million. Casey has given grants to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Suburban Hospital and the Washington National Opera, where she was rewarded with the lifetime chairman title. In 2014, the foundation made a $1 million
| washingtonlife.com
Alice Clark
Albert Small
Heather and Andy Florance
Micheline Klagsbrun and Ken Grossinger
45
Cindy and Evan Jones