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The Wexner Foundation focuses on the development of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
professional and volunteer leaders in North America and public leaders in Israel. Founded by
Leslie Wexner
Leslie Herbert Wexner (born September 8, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman emeritus of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly Limited Brands). Wexner grew a business empire after starting The Limited, a clothing re ...
, CEO of
Limited Brands
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly known as L Brands, Inc., Limited Brands, Inc. and The Limited, Inc.) is an American specialty retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. It owns Bath & Body Works, posted $11.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and was ...
, and his wife, Abigail Wexner, the headquarters are located in
New Albany, Ohio
New Albany is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, located northeast of the state capital of Columbus. Most of the city is located in Franklin County and a small portion extends into adjacent Licking County. New Albany had a population of 10,825 ...
with additional offices in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In addition to the core leadership programs, the Wexner Foundation supports other Jewish charities on a local, national, and international level.
History
In the early 1980s,
Leslie Wexner
Leslie Herbert Wexner (born September 8, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman emeritus of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly Limited Brands). Wexner grew a business empire after starting The Limited, a clothing re ...
, CEO of
Limited Brands
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly known as L Brands, Inc., Limited Brands, Inc. and The Limited, Inc.) is an American specialty retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. It owns Bath & Body Works, posted $11.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and was ...
, decided that what the Jewish community and Israel needed most was stronger leaders. When established Jewish organizations showed relatively little interest in investing in the development of leaders, Les decided to take up the mission with his private philanthropy.
Originally, Les founded two separate organizations to pursue this mission: The Wexner Heritage Foundation created the Wexner Heritage Program to strengthen volunteer leaders. The Wexner Foundation created the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, for emerging professional Jewish leaders, and the Wexner Israel Fellowship, for mid-career Israeli public officials. In the 1990s, Abigail Wexner joined her husband, Les, in charting the Wexner philanthropic vision in their roles as chairmen. In 2003, the two foundations merged, and since then The Wexner Foundation has run its programs as a unified organization under Abigail and Les's leadership. The Foundation has also added new programs to expand upon its mission of strengthening Jewish leaders. Since 2013, The Wexner Foundation has launched four additional programs: Wexner Service Corps (2013), Wexner Field Fellowship (2013), Wexner Senior Leaders (2014), and The Wexner Summits (2015).
The first of The Foundation's core programs was founded in 1985. Leslie Wexner and
Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman, the former CEO of the National United Jewish Appeal, established the Wexner Heritage Program. This program's mission statement, according to the Wexner Foundation website, is "to educate Jewish communal leaders in the history, thought, traditions and contemporary challenges of the Jewish people."
In 1988, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program was founded by the Wexner Foundation. It awards scholarships to 20 exceptional individuals in
North America who wish to obtain degrees in Jewish education, Jewish leadership, rabbinical studies, or cantorate studies. The mission of this program is "to encourage promising candidates to successfully meet the challenges of professional Jewish leadership in the North American Jewish community."
The Wexner Israel Fellowship Program was created in 1989. It is a partnership between the Wexner Foundation and Harvard University's
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
. The program annually selects up to 10 Israeli public officials and/or nonprofit leaders to participate in leadership seminars while they pursue a mid-career
Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree at the Kennedy School. The goal of this program, according to the Wexner Foundation website, is "To provide Israel's next generation of public leaders with advanced training in public management and leadership development, thus enhancing the quality of democracy and the institutional vitality of Israel's public sector."
The Wexner Foundation headquarters are located in
New Albany, Ohio
New Albany is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, located northeast of the state capital of Columbus. Most of the city is located in Franklin County and a small portion extends into adjacent Licking County. New Albany had a population of 10,825 ...
. Smaller Wexner Foundation offices can be found in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The president of the Wexner Foundation is Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson.
Core leadership programs
The Wexner Foundation consists of seven core leadership programs: Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Wexner Israel Fellowship, Wexner Heritage Program, Wexner Field Fellowship, Wexner Senior Leaders, Wexner Service Corps, and The Wexner Summits.
The Wexner Heritage Program (1985) was designed to provide young North American Jewish volunteer leaders with a two-year intensive Jewish learning program, deepening their understanding of Jewish history, values, and texts and enriching their leadership skills. By the end of 2018, 2,025 North American Jewish leaders from 34 cities will have participated in the program.
The Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (1988) was created for outstanding rabbinical students and graduate students in Jewish education and Jewish communal service programs. In its early years, the Foundation established a grants program for academic institutions of all types to build and improve training programs for Jewish community professionals. Eventually, the Fellowship Program was expanded to include top candidates for academic Jewish studies and the cantorate. By the end of 2018, over 550 outstanding Jewish professional leaders from a wide array of religious affiliations and professional groupings will have participated in the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program.
The Wexner Israel Fellowship Program (1989) annually selects up to 10 outstanding mid-career Israeli public officials to study for a master's degree in the mid-career program of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The goal of the fellowship is to provide Israel's next generation of public leaders with advanced leadership and public management training. By the end of 2018, 260 Israeli public officials will have participated in the Israel Fellowship, including leaders who have gone on to become Directors General of government ministries, Generals and Commanders in the Israeli military, and top advisors to Prime Ministers.
The Wexner Service Corps (2013) is a program designed to inspire and unite Columbus-area Jewish teens to engage in service-learning. The Service Corps is open to high school juniors and seniors to participate in a week-long service trip followed by a year of monthly volunteering and Jewish learning. A select group of Corps members can return for a second year to join the Senior Leadership Cohort (SLC). The Service Corps launched in June 2013 with an inaugural service trip to New York and has since served in New Orleans, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and most recently Houston. Columbus Jewish teens have cumulatively put in thousands of service hours into serving both the Columbus community and the communities it visits. The Wexner Service Corps was inspired by Hannah Wexner and the mantle was taken up by her sister Sarah.
The Wexner Field Fellowship (2013) is a special opportunity to grow as a Jewish professional, deepen your leadership skills and develop a rich network of colleagues to support your career. Wexner Field Fellows Program in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation to provide opportunities for professional growth to promising Jewish professionals who plan to continue to pursue a career as a professional leader in the North American Jewish community. More than 60 Field Fellows have engaged in the program since its inception.
The Wexner Senior Leaders (2015) is an executive model leadership initiative and aspires to leverage The Wexner Foundation's long-established partnerships with the Israeli Government and Harvard University, with the goal of strengthening Israel's public service leadership. The program aims to strengthen skills and design strategies for leading trans-formative change, acquiring new tools for better decision-making, and developing strategies to be employed by some of Israel's most promising and influential senior leaders in the public sector. The program prepares a select cohort each year to exercise collaborative leadership within and across organizations and sectors. To date, more than 120 executives have taken part in the Senior Leaders program.
The Wexner Summits provide a space for Alumni and Network Members to work together to identify common goals and values. Commitments and work that emerge from the Summits aim to strengthen our individual and collective efforts with a goal to provide answers for controversial issue in the Jewish world.
Notable fellows
*
Marla Berkowitz
Controversy
In April 2003, a research report for the Wexner Foundation was leaked which was entitled ''Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communication Priorities 2003''. The document was prepared by the
Luntz Research Companies and
Israel Project
The Israel Project (TIP) was a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-government organization. According to TIP, it was not affiliated with any government, and according to its website, it had a team with decades of experience in media, government, ...
. The document was a public relationship document which provided communication strategies for American supporters of Israel, especially those in the media, on how to sway U.S. public opinion in favor of Israel in the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and how to link Israel's interests with those of the United States. It was considered controversial since it was seen as a covert communication campaign for swaying the American public and showed a lack of good faith in resolving the conflict.
In October 2018, Israeli reporter
Erel Segal and news outlets such as mida had reported that US$2.3 million had been transferred to
Ehud Barak for unknown work between 2004 and 2006 by the Wexner foundation, which had described the money transfer as payment for research.
On October 29
Maariv (through its Israeli radio station) reported that Ehud Barak had been given the funds while he was a private citizen and the fund transfer is under investigation.
However, on November 6 a call for investigation by the
attorney general of Israel
The attorney general of Israel ( he, היועץ המשפטי לממשלה, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', lit. ''Legal Advisor to the Government'') heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. ...
had been filed. The following day, it was reported that contrary to initial claims, the Wexner funds had been transferred to Ehud Barak while he may not have been a private person.
Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...
, the American financier and convicted sex offender, was a trustee of the foundation from 1992 to 2007. Epstein, according to the New York Times, held "an unusually strong hold on Mr. Wexner," and "
ld the title of President of the Wexner family financial office."
[https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/Media/News/Wexner%20Foundation%20Report%20Following%20Independent%20Review%5b4%5d.pdf ] Still, an eighteen page "independent" review conducted the law firm Kegler, Brown — like Wexner's entities also based in Columbus, Ohio — stated that "Epstein Played No Meaningful Role in the Foundation’s Budget, Finances or Accounting Processes" and that "Epstein Played No Role in the Operation of the Foundation’s Fellowships or Other Programs."
This report raised its own separate yet interrelated questions about Wexner's and the foundation's leadership and oversight by alumni and graduates. If trustees such as Epstein "signed actions authorizing the appointment of Foundation officers and trustees" (according to Kegler),
was the foundation also questionably led in ways similar to how Wexner enabled (to use Yehuda Kurtzer's words) "many of the behaviors that we keep reading about that took place in some of the companies under Les’ leadership"?
On June 23, 2020, the Miami Herald reported that Howard Cooper, an attorney for
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
, admitted in court two days prior the possession of court filings and depositions of a woman who testified that she was "trafficked" to Wexner and others.
See also
*
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is a multidisciplinary academic medical center located in Columbus, Ohio, United States, on the main campus of The Ohio State University.
For 29 consecutive years, '' U.S. News & World Report'' has ...
*
Wexner Center for the Arts
The Wexner Center for the Arts is the Ohio State University's "multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art". The Wexner Center opened in November 1989, named in honor of the father of Limite ...
References
External links
Official websiteWexner Israel Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School
{{Authority control
Foundations based in the United States
Organizations established in 1980
Les Wexner