Tag: Simon Wiesenthal

Robert Downey Jr.’s Latest Philanthropic Investment

On February 17, 2021

In Blog, James Lustig, Jimmy Lustig, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. has been covertly making headways into the world of environmental research the last few years. In 2019, Downey Jr. founded the Footprint Coalition, an organization geared toward supporting scientific research and sustainability technologies. Earlier this week, Downey Jr. revealed a new arm of the Footprint Coalition at the Davos Agenda of the World Economic Forum: Footprint Coalition Ventures. Downey Jr. explains that Footprint Coalition Ventures will be the investment branch of the organization and that its mission will be seeking out and supporting companies that research sustainability.

Downey Jr. went into further detail on the goals of Footprint Coalition Ventures in an interview with reporters from Fast Company. Downey Jr. explains that creating Footprint Coalition Ventures will put the Footprint Coalition in a better position to help answer vital sustainability questions. Continuing, Downey Jr. says that Footprint Coalition Ventures have two types of funds, one for preliminary investments and the other for subsequent investment opportunities. Furthermore, the company follows a rolling fund investment schedule. In this manner, investors will be able transfer funds to companies on a quarterly basis, making Footprint Coalition Ventures more accessible to different kinds of investors. Downey Jr. adds that such a schedule opens the company to as wide a pool of investors as possible.

Footprint Coalition Ventures focuses on funding companies that research in six areas, including food and agriculture, energy, education, and advanced environmental solutions. Thus far, five companies, including Arcadia Earth and Cloud Paper, have received funds from Footprint Coalition Ventures.

Looking to the future, Downey Jr. says that he plans on using his status as a celebrity to raise awareness on the Footprint Coalition and sustainability ventures in general. While many other celebrities who are involved in similar organizations tend to keep a low public profile, Downey Jr. feels that it is his responsibility to use his platform to influence others. Jonathan Schulhof, who runs the day-to-day business of Footprint Coalition Ventures, points out that the company has used a YouTube video of Downey Jr. detailing the differences between plastic and polyhydroxyalkanoate, a new type of sustainable polymer invented by RWDC Industries, to help woo investors. Schulhof continues that such content can inspire audiences by making something extraordinary seem commonplace.

Five Great Books About Philanthropy in 2020

By Jimmy Lustig

On December 15, 2020

In Blog, James Lustig, Jimmy Lustig, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

With so many options out there, how – and why – should people consider giving? The five books below provide many answers to these and other questions, making for fascinating reading, both inspirational and impactful.

One of the best guides to the giving process is the traditional Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy, by Tracy Gary. Efficient covers everything from the basics of plan making, working with advisors, the right questions to ask non-profits, and much more. The inclusion of worksheets, resource lists, and descriptions of planning tools is beneficial.

The Promise of a Pencil, by Adam Braun, tells the story of how one man’s actions impacted thousands of lives globally. After encountering a begging child and starting with only $25, Braun built an organization that has helped build over 250 schools worldwide. Inspirational and uplifting, if ever there was an argument for the power of giving, this is it.

In The Soul of Money: Reclaiming the Wealth of Our Inner Resources, Lynne Twist offers positive proof that changing our attitudes towards earning and spending money can make our lives more meaningful and fulfilling. Challenging everyday assumptions about society’s views of money, the author illustrates her journey from conspicuous consumer to non-profit activist in an honest, no-punches-pulled way.

Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody bring a fresh perspective in Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors Are Revolutionizing Giving. Moving between first-hand accounts and analysis of a new class of doner’s work, the book shows the impact of young rising stars of philanthropy in disrupting traditional giving models and creating entirely fresh approaches to the field.

Another disruptive approach to giving is Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference by Antony Bugg-Levine and Jed Emerson. The new field of impact investing is thoroughly explained, showing how it’s possible to “blend” investment success with positive change.

This year, perhaps more than in most, it’s essential to consider how a charitable contribution can positively impact peoples’ lives. The wisdom and practical advice that abound in the five volumes discussed will hopefully inspire and energize in equal measure.

Jimmy Lustig Nonprofit Spotlight Wiesenthal Center

Nonprofit Spotlight: The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance

By Jimmy Lustig

On November 13, 2018

In Blog, Jimmy Lustig, Philanthropy

The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) opened in Los Angeles in 1993. Beyond an institution devoted to the preservation of objects, artifacts, and documents, the MOT is designed to be an experience that immerses the audience in the knowledge of tolerance and what it means, a Museum that encourages individuals of all backgrounds to examine their assumptions and value systems and to engage in a dialogue that facilitates growth and change.

The creation of the Museum of Tolerance

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a respected and internationally renowned Jewish human rights organization, named to honor the late Simon Wiesenthal, a famous Nazi hunter, began to plan for The Museum of Tolerance with input from the representatives of the world’s most influential and prestigious museums and cultural institutions.

These think tank sessions proposed a fresh perspective, a Museum that would provide a unique experience to the museum-goer by encouraging thought and conversation, molding attitudes, and offering information on the arena of tolerance and human understanding.

Simon Wiesenthal believed that the idea of preserving the past was imperative, yet, as necessary as that honoring and recording is, it must motivate and inspire us to take action in the present. The Museum of Tolerance should serve to prevent hatred and genocide from occurring to any group, both in contemporary times and in the future.

And the winner is tolerance!

The MOT has been honored as the recipient of the Global Peace and Tolerance Award from the Friends of the United Nations. This accolade has underscored The Museum of Tolerance’s role as a human rights laboratory and educational center which turns on the fulcrum of inviting guests to understand the Holocaust in its historical context and as viewed through the lens of today.

Holocaust education is vitally important because studies had shown that when the MOT was being planned, young people, even as early as the 1980s, were debating if the Holocaust had occurred. This added to the imperative for MOT to present the phenomena of the Holocaust in a way that encouraged the audience to explore, expose and to energize a dialogue that began with one expression of prejudice and genocide and then to extrapolate ideas of tolerance from the lessons learned. To start the work of confronting and uprooting all forms of discrimination is the role that the MOT hopes to instill in viewers.