Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles

History

The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles was founded in 1954 by Isaac Pacht, a judge. ² At its inception, the foundation focused on providing resources to Jewish schools and programs in the Los Angeles area. ² In the 1960s and 1970s the organization began providing free legal services to poor residents of Los Angeles and provided premarital and newlywed counseling for couples. ² By the 1980s, JCF Los Angeles expanded its focus to include programs related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, addiction recovery, and other social welfare programs. ² Today, it continues to provide grants to a variety of Jewish schools and synagogues, in addition to supporting a number of social programs. ¹

Finances

The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has just over $1.08 billion in total assets. ¹ In 2014, the foundation passed $1 billion in assets, and since 2017, JCF Los Angeles has provided more than $100 million in grants annually. In 2019, JCF Los Angeles reported $149,675,530 in revenue and $114,088,256 in expenses, an increase over 2018’s $105,724,305 in revenue and $103,085,128 in expenses. ^{3 1}

Madoff Investments

After the frauds perpetrated by disgraced financial advisor Bernard Madoff were revealed, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles declared that it had lost $23.9 million, “including $5.86 million of alleged earnings on investments that turned out to be fictitious,” to Madoff’s frauds. ⁴

JCF Los Angeles president and CEO Marvin Schotland claimed that a volunteer committee, with assistance from the consulting firm Cambridge Associates, had advised the foundation to invest with Madoff. ⁵ However, Cambridge Associates stated that JCF Los Angeles began investing with Madoff months before it hired the firm and claimed that it had never recommended any investments by JCF Los Angeles in Madoff-controlled funds. ⁵

Grants

Outside of grants disbursed to nonprofits which focus on the Jewish community, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has made several grants to high-profile, left-of-center nonprofit organizations. ¹ In recent years, JCF Los Angeles has funded members of the left-wing “Check the Sheriff Coalition.” ¹ The coalition has demanded that Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D) resign and asked the California Attorney General to investigate the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. ⁶ JCF Los Angeles has funded the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Bend The Arc, and Clergy and Laity United For Economic Justice, all of which participate in the coalition. ⁷

In 2019, JCF Los Angeles funded left-of-center and left-wing environmentalist organizations. These included grants of $18,500 to the Center for Biological Diversity, $15,000 to the Citizens Climate Education Corporation, $10,400 to Earthjustice, $13,600 to the Environmental Defense Fund, $25,100 to Green America, $27,300 to Advancing the Interests of Animals, $100,000 to the Natural Resources Defense Council, and small contributions to the Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club Foundation. ¹

JCF Los Angeles also made substantial contributions to left-of-center legal organizations. These included grants to the ACLU Foundation of Southern California ($127,450), the ACLU Foundation ($9,500), the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund ($6,600), and the Southern Poverty Law Center ($28,080). ¹

Other left-of-center organizations which received funding from JCF Los Angeles in 2019 included the pro-Palestinian Americans for Peace Now ($37,050), the California Community Foundation ($87,700), Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice ($5,250), the Feminist Majority Foundation ($10,300), Human Rights Watch ($32,000), the Los Angeles LGBT Center ($74,650), the Union of Concerned Scientists ($26,850), and the Voter Registration Project Education Fund ($7,500). ¹

Though nearly all JCF Los Angeles donations went to left-of-center organizations, the foundation contributed some funding to right-of-center organizations in 2019. These included a $10,000 grant to the American Enterprise Institute, a $12,100 grant to the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and $52,500 to the Prager University Foundation. ¹

Leadership

Marvin Schotland is president and CEO at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. ⁸ Schotland began his career at JCF Los Angeles as executive vice president in 1989 after previously working for four years as the executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Metrowest. ⁸

Prior to joining JCF Greater Metrowest, he was the executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Schotland holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati⁹ and is currently on the board of directors at the University of Southern California’s Center for Philanthropy and Public Policy. ¹⁰ Schotland has been named by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 21 most influential nonprofit leaders in Los Angeles. ¹¹